#an ice planet with a small research team

[xtruss]

The Last Flower At The Top of The World—and The Perilous Journey To Reach It

Scientists Journeyed to a Stretch of Gravel Off The Coast of Greenland—The Farthest North You Can Go and Still Walk on Land. These Photos Show What They Found There.

— By Sarah Gibbens | Photographs byJeff Kerby | May 08, 2024

An Arctic Poppy thrives on the Northern Coast of Greenland. Among the plant life in this region, these hardy Flowers are like Giants. Some, like this one, grow in clumps that protect themselves from harsh weather. Like a satellite dish, they will slowly turn to follow the sun. On an expedition to understand what lives at this latitude, an Arctic Poppy like this was found about 20 inches south of the World's Northernmost Plant.

At the top of the Earth, the northernmost stretch of land a person can stand on is Inuit Qeqertaat, also named Kaffeklubben Island by early 20th Century Danish Explorers. The region is a dark gray stretch of gravel on the northern coast of Greenland where land slowly gives way to frozen sea ice.

To find what lives amid these rocky soils, climate change researchers and National Geographic Explorers Brian Buma and Jeff Kerby and their team embarked on a journey to survey the region. There, they found a common species of moss (Tortula Mucronifolia), the world's northernmost plant, and a yellow and lime-green Arctic poppy (Papaver Radicatum), growing just a few inches south of the moss.

On the nearby mainland, Greenlandic archaeologist Aka Simonsen discovered a ring of roughly 700-Year-Old Inuit Stones, which may be the northernmost archaeological remains.

Growing in Extremes: The Northernmost Stretch of land in the World, Inuit Qeqertaat, sits off the coast of Johannes V. Jensen Land, a Peninsula in Far Northern Greenland. National Geographic Explorer Brian Buma traveled there to find the northernmost plant-a common moss—and the northernmost flower a few inches south-an Arctic poppy.

Rosemary Wardley, NGM Staff; Martin Gamache, National Geographic Society Sources: Jeff Kerby, Scott Polar Research Institute; Brian Buma, Environmental Defense Fund; SkySat imagery from July 13, 2023, Planet Labs PBC; ArcticDEM, Version 4.1

The research team left their own mark on the mainland coast, staking plots and recording the vegetation they contained to create a highly detailed digital map of the area they surveyed. Information collected from this trip will be the first data logs in what Buma and Kerby hope will be a long timeline of research in the far northern region.

Here, above the Arctic Circle, the planet is warming four times faster than anywhere else on Earth. Changes here will have ripple effects across the globe, which is why the team braved harsh conditions to find what lives on the edge.

The expedition team was led by climate scientist and National Geographic Explorer Brian Buma. The north coast of Greenland was used as a staging point while shuttling gear across sea ice to Inuit Qeqertaat (Kaffeklubben Island).

Brian Buma collected samples from different layers of this snow glacier to understand the unique properties of water in this rarely visited region. This part of the world is a polar desert, and precipitation is scant, so the samples in this glacier represent many years of snow.

From above, the northern coast of Inuit Qeqertaat—and thus the northernmost stretch of land on Earth—is visible. It was near this shoreline that the team found the edge of terrestrial life, including a common species of moss, officially the farthest north, and the northernmost flower on earth—found about 20 inches south of the moss. The small, gravelly island is about a mile north of mainland Greenland.

This is the northernmost flower on earth, a lone and somewhat ragged Arctic Poppy, sitting near the shoreline of Inuit Qeqertaat. Poppies dotted the northern edge, with a few purple mountain saxifrage (Saxifraga oppositifolia) only slightly farther up the slope. In the background, Brian Buma surveys various contenders for northernmost plant before a final survey determines this flower to be the official runner-up. Seen just behind the flower, a tuft of ‘Mucronate screw moss’ (Tortula mucronifolia) claims that title.

Identifying mosses and other tiny Arctic flora requires a hand lens and careful attention to detail. Up close, Brian Buma examines their adaptations to cold weather, such as small hairs coating a plant's exterior.

Aka Simonsen, a Greenlandic archeologist, prepares to leave camp with Brian Buma, just as the weather begins to turn. After just a few hours the northernmost island, the team left, intending to return the next day. The window to return quickly closed after a few days when bad weather turned into a storm that brought strong winds and heavy precipitation. The July storm dumped nearly a foot of snow and drifts reached several feet. Harsh conditions trapped the team at their base camp for a week.

Aka Simonsen measures a ring of large stones that may have been used to anchor a tent. The stones are roughly 700 years old and likely left by the Thule people. These artifacts were found on the mainland, near the team's base camp and could be the northernmost documented archeological site on Earth.

When the plane returning to retrieve the team landed, it got stuck in snow, and a makeshift runway had to be constructed by scooping snow with snow shoes. Gravel was placed by hand so the plane's tires wouldn't slip on ice or stick in snow during takeoff. Scientists who return to this northernmost region will be able to use the team's detailed digital map to chart how the ecosystem is changing as the planet warms.

#Environment #Environmental #Last Flower 🌺 #Top of the World 🌎 #The Perilous Journey #Scientists Journeyed | Coat of Greenland 🇬🇱 #Arctic Poppy #Giant Flowers 🌺 🌸 💐 #National Geographic Explorers Brian Buma | Jeff Kerby #(Tortula Mucronifolia) #Arctic poppy (Papaver Radicatum) #Inuit Qeqertaat #Kaffeklubben #20th Century Danish 🇩🇰 Explorers 🧭 #700-Year-Old Inuit Stones #Johannes V. Jensen Land

[spacetimewithstuartgary]

New feature in Jupiter’s atmosphere

NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope has discovered a new, never-before-seen feature in Jupiter’s atmosphere. The high-speed jet stream, which spans more than 3,000 miles (4,800 kilometers) wide, sits over Jupiter’s equator above the main cloud decks. The discovery of this jet is giving insights into how the layers of Jupiter’s famously turbulent atmosphere interact with each other, and how Webb is uniquely capable of tracking those features.

“This is something that totally surprised us,” said Ricardo Hueso of the University of the Basque Country in Bilbao, Spain, lead author on the paper describing the findings. “What we have always seen as blurred hazes in Jupiter’s atmosphere now appear as crisp features that we can track along with the planet’s fast rotation.”

The research team analyzed data from Webb’s NIRCam (Near-Infrared Camera) captured in July 2022. The Early Release Science program – jointly led by Imke de Pater from the University of California, Berkeley and Thierry Fouchet from the Observatory of Paris – was designed to take images of Jupiter 10 hours apart, or one Jupiter day, in four different filters, each uniquely able to detect changes in small features at different altitudes of Jupiter’s atmosphere.

“Even though various ground-based telescopes, spacecraft like NASA’s Juno and Cassini, and NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope have observed the Jovian system’s changing weather patterns, Webb has already provided new findings on Jupiter’s rings, satellites, and its atmosphere,” de Pater noted.

While Jupiter is different from Earth in many ways – Jupiter is a gas giant, Earth is a rocky, temperate world – both planets have layered atmospheres. Infrared, visible, radio, and ultraviolet light wavelengths observed by these other missions detect the lower, deeper layers of the planet’s atmosphere – where gigantic storms and ammonia ice clouds reside.

On the other hand, Webb’s look farther into the near-infrared than before is sensitive to the higher-altitude layers of the atmosphere, around 15-30 miles (25-50 kilometers) above Jupiter’s cloud tops. In near-infrared imaging, high-altitude hazes typically appear blurry, with enhanced brightness over the equatorial region. With Webb, finer details are resolved within the bright hazy band.

The newly discovered jet stream travels at about 320 miles per hour (515 kilometers per hour), twice the sustained winds of a Category 5 hurricane here on Earth. It is located around 25 miles (40 kilometers) above the clouds, in Jupiter’s lower stratosphere.

By comparing the winds observed by Webb at high altitudes, to the winds observed at deeper layers from Hubble, the team could measure how fast the winds change with altitude and generate wind shears.

While Webb’s exquisite resolution and wavelength coverage allowed for the detection of small cloud features used to track the jet, the complementary observations from Hubble taken one day after the Webb observations were also crucial to determine the base state of Jupiter’s equatorial atmosphere and observe the development of convective storms in Jupiter’s equator not connected to the jet.  

“We knew the different wavelengths of Webb and Hubble would reveal the three-dimensional structure of storm clouds, but we were also able to use the timing of the data to see how rapidly storms develop,” added team member Michael Wong of the University of California, Berkeley, who led the associated Hubble observations.

The researchers are looking forward to additional observations of Jupiter with Webb to determine if the jet’s speed and altitude change over time.

“Jupiter has a complicated but repeatable pattern of winds and temperatures in its equatorial stratosphere, high above the winds in the clouds and hazes measured at these wavelengths,” explained team member Leigh Fletcher of the University of Leicester in the United Kingdom. “If the strength of this new jet is connected to this oscillating stratospheric pattern, we might expect the jet to vary considerably over the next 2 to 4 years – it’ll be really exciting to test this theory in the years to come.”

“It’s amazing to me that, after years of tracking Jupiter’s clouds and winds from numerous observatories, we still have more to learn about Jupiter, and features like this jet can remain hidden from view until these new NIRCam images were taken in 2022,” continued Fletcher.

The researchers’ results were recently published in Nature Astronomy.

The James Webb Space Telescope is the world’s premier space science observatory. Webb is solving mysteries in our solar system, looking beyond to distant worlds around other stars, and probing the mysterious structures and origins of our universe and our place in it. Webb is an international program led by NASA with its partners, ESA (European Space Agency) and the Canadian Space Agency.

TOP IMAGE....This image of Jupiter from NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope’s NIRCam (Near-Infrared Camera) shows stunning details of the majestic planet in infrared light. In this image, brightness indicates high altitude. The numerous bright white ‘spots’ and ‘streaks’ are likely very high-altitude cloud tops of condensed convective storms. Auroras, appearing in red in this image, extend to higher altitudes above both the northern and southern poles of the planet. By contrast, dark ribbons north of the equatorial region have little cloud cover.   CREDIT  NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, R. Hueso (University of the Basque Country), I. de Pater (University of California, Berkeley), T. Fouchet (Observatory of Paris), L. Fletcher (University of Leicester), M. Wong (University of California, Berkeley), J. DePasquale (STScI)

CENTRAL IMAGE....This image of Jupiter from NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope’s NIRCam (Near-Infrared Camera) shows stunning details of the majestic planet in infrared light. In this image, brightness indicates high altitude. The numerous bright white ‘spots’ and ‘streaks’ are likely very high-altitude cloud tops of condensed convective storms. Auroras, appearing in red in this image, extend to higher altitudes above both the northern and southern poles of the planet. By contrast, dark ribbons north of the equatorial region have little cloud cover. In Webb’s images of Jupiter from July 2022, researchers recently discovered a narrow jet stream traveling 320 miles per hour (515 kilometers per hour) sitting over Jupiter’s equator above the main cloud decks.  CREDIT  NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, R. Hueso (University of the Basque Country), I. de Pater (University of California, Berkeley), T. Fouchet (Observatory of Paris), L. Fletcher (University of Leicester), M. Wong (University of California, Berkeley), J. DePasquale (STScI)

LOWER IMAGE....Researchers using NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope’s NIRCam (Near-Infrared Camera) have discovered a high-speed jet stream sitting over Jupiter’s equator, above the main cloud decks. At a wavelength of 2.12 microns, which observes between altitudes of about 12-21 miles (20-35 kilometers) above Jupiter’s cloud tops, researchers spotted several wind shears, or areas where wind speeds change with height or with distance, which enabled them to track the jet. This image highlights several of the features around Jupiter’s equatorial zone that, between one rotation of the planet (10 hours), are very clearly disturbed by the motion of the jet stream.  CREDIT Image : NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, Image: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, R. Hueso (University of the Basque Country), I. de Pater (University of California, Berkeley), T. Fouchet (Observatory of Paris), L. Fletcher (University of Leicester), M. Wong (University of California, Berkeley), A. James (STScI)

#science #space #astronomy #physics #news #nasa #esa #astrophysics #spacetimewithstuartgary #starstuff

[luxudus]

The Neo-Anthropocene: Earth and the Exodus

2 ships of different walks of life pass by each other in front of earth. The ship on the left is a Trade ship representing the Solar Federation, They're transporting cargo to the capital planet in the Alpha Centauri system. The other ship carries a team of diplomats representing a major faction I have yet to reveal.

Earth, once the beating heart of mankind, is now devoid of any evidence that we even called this planet home. However the reason why is a lot less grim than it may seem.

Despite the near-utopian human society is nowadays, the United Federations of Mankind they did not start peacefully. In fact it was founded in response to mass unemployment, famine, poverty, ecological collapse, and in direct retaliation to many of the former global powers descending into fascism. They would have to find a way to save everyone and the environment at the same time without using genocide as many of these rival nations suggested. The newly formed council that would evolve into the more democratic UFM would eventually devise a mass exodus of Earth's population.

This exodus was an overwhelming success as Earth's population went from 11 billion to a staggeringly small 10 million. The now offworld humans were moved to climate controlled domes that mimick earth's environment found across the other inner planets and many orbital stations.

Humans may have succeeded in saving themselves, But earth wouldn't be as fortunate. By the time the exodus was completed, the temperature rose enough to melt the ice away. Many large rivers transformed into seas, Antarctica would shrink into a massive archipelago. Many of the world's deserts expanded and the rainforests shrunk. The weather became far less predictable. And many more species teetered on extinction.

It will take a long time for earth to heal, even in the 3160's our homeplanet remains minimally inhabited. The only people allowed here are research teams and groups of celebrates commemorating the founding of the UFM. Arrays of climate controlling satellites once used to terraform the landscaped of barren exoplanets are now used to slowly heal earth's environment. Teams of geneticists track down the DNA of every extinct species so they can one day bring them back from the dead, and reintroduce them to their former ranges.

It will take a long time before earth is fully healed, but when it does, we shall return to properly take care of it this time.

#worldbuilding #scifiart #neo-anthropocene #my art #artist on tumblr #outer space #spaceship #planet #planet earth #spacescape #space art #I only realized yesterday this was just the plot of Wall-E

[mapsontheweb]

New research finds that more water is evaporating from lakes each year than previously estimated, that reservoirs may play an outsized role, and that the evaporation rate is increasing.

Earth is truly an ocean planet. Only 3 percent of Earth’s water is fresh, most of which is locked up in ice. Of the fraction of remaining fresh water, more than 87 percent resides in lakes. The amount of water lost from lakes by evaporation is a critical component of Earth’s water and energy budgets. (About 75 percent of the energy, or heat, in the global atmosphere is transferred through the evaporation of water from the Earth’s surface.)

Now, researchers have found that the amount of water evaporating from lakes is significantly more than previously thought, and that reservoirs may play an outsized role in the process, according to a new NASA-funded study published in Nature Communications.

The team, led by hydrologist Huilin Gao of Texas A&M University, used Landsat data to measure the surface areas of 1.42 million natural and artificial lakes (reservoirs). Previous studies on global lake evaporation have used basin-scale measures or gridded cells rather than individual lake areas.

The researchers then estimated the evaporation rate based on meteorology data and other factors, including how much heat is stored in the lake. Heat storage is an important driver of evaporation that hadn’t been accounted for in previous studies. The researchers next used the area and evaporation rate to calculate the volume of evaporative loss. They found that annually 1,500 (+/-150) cubic kilometers of water are lost worldwide—the equivalent of three Lake Eries.

“This suggests that lake evaporation plays a larger role in the hydrological cycle than previously thought,” said first author Gang Zhao, a global ecologist at the Carnegie Institution for Science, in a statement.

The map at top shows the spatial distribution of evaporative loss from lakes worldwide. Note the higher levels of loss in the north, where most lakes are located. “Even though the evaporation rate in these regions is small, the total evaporative water loss is substantial,” Gao said.

The researchers said the results underline the importance of using evaporation volume, rather than evaporation rate, to assess how climate change affects lakes. “Knowing that volume of evaporative loss is larger than previously estimated can also help us to better understand the role of lake evaporation in the hydrological cycle,” said Zhao.

Each year, roughly 450,000 cubic kilometers of water evaporate from the world’s oceans. An additional 71,000 cubic kilometers evaporate from the land, largely from soil and plants, but lakes play a role too. According to the new research, while lakes only account for 1.57 percent of the global land area, they contribute 2.37 percent of the water evaporated over land each year.

The above map shows the ratio of evaporation from lakes compared to total evaporation from the land by region. The land portion of the total evaporation was adopted from NASA’s Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) Global Terrestrial Evapotranspiration product. Darker red and orange indicate that lake evaporation is a significant source of evaporation in those areas. This occurs in arid regions or areas with large lakes, such as the Great Lakes Basin.

Additionally, the team found that the rate of water loss accelerated by 3.12 cubic kilometers per year between 1985 and 2018. The increasing volume loss was driven by three factors, all influenced by climate warming: an increase in the evaporation rate, a decrease in ice cover, and an increase in lake surface area. The latter includes the construction of new reservoirs, which have increased the amount of open water by more than 500 square kilometers per year over the 34-year study period.

“Both climate change and the construction of new reservoirs have contributed to increased lake surface area,” Gao said. “For instance, the lake area in the Tibetan Plateau has been increasing due to glacier melt and increasing precipitation.”

The researchers also highlighted the data on reservoirs. While reservoirs account for only 5 percent of the volume, and 10 percent of the surface area, of all lakes, they contribute 16 percent of the evaporative loss. Additionally, while evaporation is increasing from lakes overall at a rate of 2.1 percent per decade, the rate of evaporation from reservoirs is increasing at a rate of 5.4 percent per decade.

“From a global perspective,” Zhao said, “the total reservoir evaporation can be larger than the combined use of domestic and industrial water,” not including agriculture, the largest user of water. “This suggests that reservoir evaporation is an indispensable factor in water management, especially in times of drought and global warming.”

The global lake evaporation volume (GLEV) dataset is the first long-term, monthly time series with data on such a large number of individual lakes. It is publicly available as an Earth Engine App.

NASA Earth Observatory image by Joshua Stevens, using data courtesy of Zhao, G., et al. (2022). Story by Sara E. Pratt.

#maps #tw #lakes

[theburgessobserver]

Burgess Observer(Aka Frosts town newspaper)FINAL ISSUE!

News!

MAIN HEADLINE:

Hathway wins election by a landslide!

Yes,it's true he won the Presidential elections by a landslide because a landslide blocked his opponents road out of his house and caused him to miss most of the last campaigns which were decisive as he had a lead.But without appearing to address several key states he had a decisive defeat and lost by a mere 0,1 percent of voters!Hathway is a relatively unknown candidate and was at a disadvantage to win,then again he was not known for anything bad either….

Pages 1-6

Local News!

GIANT MIRACLE!

Last night somebody(or somebodies)built an intricate 18 foot snowman of Paul Bunyan.As part of the Burgess snowman competition it won first place by a landslide!But no one has come forth as to who have built it,whoever did it must have done quite some work on this Ice giant as it is very detailed and looks life-like and is well…gigantic with the ice being practically melded together as if by magic.Whoever you are we all would like to thank you(and your team)for this not only is it the biggest snowman made in the county,but it also caused a rapid increase in tourist and sight-seekers visiting.

Pages 7-8

Other headlines

Meteor Mystery

Last night Mt.Palomar picked up an asteroid the size of a small town it was heading towards the western seaboard,Scientist reported i could destroy a large part of the western seaboard and while the ICMs were being ready to knock it off course(or destroy it if neccesary)it dispersed under unknown conditions seemingly by itself and NASA is completely puzzled,to add to it somehow it wasn't seen until it was very close to Earth,and it being unknown why it wasnt picked up until then. According to experts its calculated impact point was Arcadia Oaks Ca.

Pages 9-11

Rescue,Repair and Renovate

After years of neglect ,thanks to a public fund and renewed interest the Local Drive-in theater called Forbidden Theater:The Terror from beyond fear!Is reopening,after being built in the late 40s and thriving for a long time till lower attendance due to the opening of the town cinema,it made a comeback thanks to support and new interest for movie nights in the cold night and fresh air and many daters chosing to go there.They always say theres a nice chill there at night…after some unexplained mysterious occurrences in and around town in recent years the sci-fi,mystery,monster movie craze came back with it.

Pages 12-15

Interview with Professor Bomba

He is a scientist and artist from Danbury, Connecticut he has done quite extensive research on forests and has come up through his years of research of a theory of little people living in the forest.

Alleged Dragon sightings in Canada near Kullersen Fissures-Theories and Explantions

The pride of the W.S.P. Fireball XL5 returns to Space City base in South Pacific after interplanetary exploration mission

Genetically engineered tomato with chemically altered ranch salad dressing experiment damadges 6 city blocks!

And more!

Eyes on the sky!

Weather:Fairly frosty with a chance of snow.

Today the Forbinned Theater presents:

-The BLOB

-Forbidened Planet

-Earth vs the flying saucers

-Destination:MOON!

-Mothra vs Goodzilla

Well this is it!

MARCH 27TH!!!ALERT!!!THE GUARDIANS COME TOGETHER TO FIGHT THERE BIGGEST THREAT!!!(MORE DANGEROUS AND POWERFULL THAN PITCH!!!!)

AND THEY WONT BE ALONE!!!!

ON MARCH 27TH!!!

This is the last thing i will publish till the story arc with a prologue on 26th and the story starting on 27th this will be an event you wont want to miss with several ties to the past.(And lets be real he would win any snowman competition by a long-shot!)

It seems as though Jack will be off the naughty list for that.

And I see he likes to watch movies and have some fun while watching them.(And if it werent for him it might not even have been reopened)

Always helping his town directly or indirectly.

Who built the Giant Statue?The same who did the snowflake Formation(Wrong answears only please.)

#dreamworks #rotg #jack frost #rise of the guardians #nine realms #epic 2013 #monsters vs aliens #paul bunyan #snowman #president of the united states #trollhunters #wizards tales of arcadia #3below #nasa #the blob #earth vs the flying saucers #godzilla #gojira #forbidden planet #rotg jack frost #jackson overland frost #presidential election #fireball xl5 #drive in theater

[thoughtportal]

Wind-borne microplastics are a bigger source of ocean pollution than rivers, say scientists

More than 200,000 tonnes of tiny plastic particles are blown from roads into the oceans every year, according to research.

The study suggests wind-borne microplastics are a bigger source of ocean pollution than rivers, the route that has attracted most attention to date. The analysis focused on the tiny particles produced by tyres and brake pads as they wear down.

It estimated that 550,000 tonnes of particles smaller than 0.01mm are deposited each year, with almost half ending up in the ocean. More than 80,000 tonnes fall on remote ice- and snow-covered areas and may increase melting as the dark particles absorb the sun’s heat.

Microplastic pollution has polluted the entire planet, from Arctic snow and Alpine soils to the deepest oceans. The particles can harbour toxic chemicals and harmful microbes and are known to harm some marine creatures. People are also known to consume them via food and water, and to breathe them, But the impact on human health is not yet known.

Earlier work suggested microplastic particles could be blown across the world, but the new study is the first to quantify the effect. The scientists concentrated on fine tyre and brake dust as there is better data on how these are produced than tiny microplastics from other sources, such as plastic bottles and packaging.

“Roads are a very significant source of microplastics to remote areas, including the oceans,” said Andreas Stohl, from the Norwegian Institute for Air Research, who led the research. He said an average tyre loses 4kg during its lifetime. “It’s such a huge amount of plastic compared to, say, clothes,” whose fibres are commonly found in rivers, Stohl said. “You will not lose kilograms of plastic from your clothing.”

Airborne transport has received much less attention than rivers because only the smallest particles can be blown by the wind and their size makes them difficult to identify as plastic. “The really small particles are probably the most important in terms of health and ecological consequences because you can inhale them and the very small particles can probably also enter your blood vessels,” Stohl said.

The research, published in the journal Nature Communications, used two methods to estimate the amount of fine particles shed by tyres and brakes. The team then used well-established atmospheric circulation models to assess how they are blown around the globe.

Stohl acknowledges significant uncertainties in the data, such as how rapidly the particles fall to the ground in rain. The study suggests the finest particles can remain airborne for a month. But he is confident the results are the right order of magnitude. The next step is to accelerate development of measurement techniques for fine particles so that real-world samples can be checked.

Deonie Allen, at the University of Strathclyde in Scotland, and not part of the research team, said: “This very well conducted research shows there is an awful lot of microplastic pollution coming from sources that most people have never even thought of. This is one of the first long-distance transport modelling papers and it shows how far these pollutants can move and how important the atmosphere is at part of the plastic pollution cycle.”

Erik van Sebille, at Utrecht University in the Netherlands, said: “The study shows how interconnected pristine remote areas are with what we’re doing in our cities and on our roads.” Sebille studies microplastic flows in the oceans and is planning to work with Stohl’s group to develop a global picture of plastic pollution, which will help determine how best to tackle the problem.

Read more

“We should be concerned,” he said. “We don’t still know really what the harm is of all these microplastics, but the precautionary principle says that we had better be careful and safe about these things.”

Stohl said the issue of tyre and brake pollution is likely to get worse before it gets better as electric cars become more common: “Electric cars are normally heavier than internal combustion engine cars. That means more wear on tyres and brakes.”

Reducing microplastic pollution from vehicles is difficult, he said: “The manufacturers will have to respond somehow, if this really becomes a matter of concern.” In the meantime, Stohl said people should reduce the use of plastics they can do without and ensure the rest is recycled.

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you move on, I wanted to ask if you would consider supporting the Guardian’s journalism as we enter one of the most consequential news cycles of our lifetimes in 2024.

With the potential of another Trump presidency looming, there are countless angles to cover around this year’s election – and we’ll be there to shed light on each new development, with explainers, key takeaways and analysis of what it means for America, democracy and the world. 

From Elon Musk to the Murdochs, a small number of billionaire owners have a powerful hold on so much of the information that reaches the public about what’s happening in the world. The Guardian is different. We have no billionaire owner or shareholders to consider. Our journalism is produced to serve the public interest – not profit motives.

And we avoid the trap that befalls much US media: the tendency, born of a desire to please all sides, to engage in false equivalence in the name of neutrality. We always strive to be fair. But sometimes that means calling out the lies of powerful people and institutions – and making clear how misinformation and demagoguery can damage democracy.

From threats to election integrity, to the spiraling climate crisis, to complex foreign conflicts, our journalists contextualize, investigate and illuminate the critical stories of our time. As a global news organization with a robust US reporting staff, we’re able to provide a fresh, outsider perspective – one so often missing in the American media bubble.

Around the world, readers can access the Guardian’s paywall-free journalism because of our unique reader-supported model. That’s because of people like you. Our readers keep us independent, beholden to no outside influence and accessible to everyone – whether they can afford to pay for news, or not. {read}

#article #air pollution #pollution #the guardian #microplastics #cars

[rjzimmerman]

Excerpt from this story from National Geographic:

Orcas continue to dominate headlines, and for good reason—the ultimate ocean predators keep finding ways to surprise us.

These versatile dolphins (yes, they’re not whales) are likely the most widely distributed vertebrate on the planet, living from the polar regions south to the Equator. Orcas have very diverse diets, feasting on fish, penguins, and marine mammals such as seals, sea lions, and even whales—and they’ve developed ingenious methods for procuring their prey.

Some Antarctic orcas work as a team to create waves that knock seals off floating ice sheets. Others have figured out how to extract livers from great white sharks—sometimes solo, and in as little as a few minutes.

1. Rogue orcas are thriving on the high seas—and they’re eating big whales

In March 2024, scientists reported a brand-new population of killer whales: Animals that ply the high seas, hunting large whales and other enormous prey. These open-ocean denizens have been spotted at numerous locations far from Oregon and California, many of them well beyond the continental shelf, where waters can reach depths of 15,000 feet,according to the study in Aquatic Mammals. This potentially new population feasts on sizable prey, such as sperm whales, elephant seals, and dolphins.

2. These orcas control the waves to hunt

In one region of Antarctica, about a hundred orcas have mastered a hunting technique called wave washing. The secret: working together to turn water into a weapon. The orcas, having identified their target, form a battle line and start charging toward the seal atop an ice floe. Just before reaching it, they rotate to their sides in a single, synchronized motion and plunge underwater. The momentum creates a wave so powerful that it floods the ice sheet, cracking the surface and whipping the flailing seal around. Slowly and methodically, they repeat the charge. The ice fractures more.

3. Single orca kills great white shark

An orca already famous for surgically extracting shark livers has a new trick up its sleeve: Killing one of nature’s most deadly predators all by himself. For the first time ever, scientists documented an orca taking down a great white shark solo in March 2024. The new footage, taken in June 2023 in Mossel Bay, shows an orca known as Starboard killing a juvenile eight-foot-long great white shark and removing its liver—all in under two minutes. The orca then parades past the videographer's boat with the bloody liver in its mouth.

4. Fish-eating orcas kill porpoises—for fun?

In 2005, Deborah Giles saw something she’ll never forget—a dead porpoise, riding the snouts of a pod of orcas off Washington State. “What on Earth is happening?” wondered Giles, the science and research director for the nonprofit Wild Orca, based in Friday Harbor. “It didn't make any sense.” Scientists first recorded this behavior in southern resident killer whales in 1962, and since then, eyewitnesses have observed more than 70 such incidents, peaking in 2005 at 10.

5. Orcas are working together to sink boats.

A population of orcas off the Iberian Peninsula has been gaining attention over the last three years—and causing angst among sailors—by attacking and even sinking boats in the area. The first recorded attack occurred in the Strait of Gibraltar in May 2020, with dozens of cases recorded since then. Most of the incidents are remarkably consistent, generally involving a small group of whales attacking the rudders of small sailboats before breaking off and swimming away. In June and November 2022, a pair of attacks caused two boats to sink; in May 2023, a badly damaged boat sank while it was being towed to shore.

#orcas #killer whales

[spacenutspod]

5 Min Read Why is Methane Seeping on Mars? NASA Scientists Have New Ideas Filled with briny lakes, the Quisquiro salt flat in South America’s Altiplano region represents the kind of landscape that scientists think may have existed in Gale Crater on Mars, which NASA’s Curiosity Rover is exploring. Credits: Maksym Bocharov The most surprising revelation from NASA’s Curiosity Mars Rover — that methane is seeping from the surface of Gale Crater — has scientists scratching their heads. Living creatures produce most of the methane on Earth. But scientists haven’t found convincing signs of current or ancient life on Mars, and thus didn’t expect to find methane there. Yet, the portable chemistry lab aboard Curiosity, known as SAM, or Sample Analysis at Mars, has continually sniffed out traces of the gas near the surface of Gale Crater, the only place on the surface of Mars where methane has been detected thus far. Its likely source, scientists assume, are geological mechanisms that involve water and rocks deep underground. If that were the whole story, things would be easy. However, SAM has found that methane behaves in unexpected ways in Gale Crater. It appears at night and disappears during the day. It fluctuates seasonally, and sometimes spikes to levels 40 times higher than usual. Surprisingly, the methane also isn’t accumulating in the atmosphere: ESA’s (the European Space Agency) ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter, sent to Mars specifically to study the gas in the atmosphere, has detected no methane. Why do some science instruments detect methane on the Red Planet while others don’t? “It’s a story with a lot of plot twists,” said Ashwin Vasavada, Curiosity’s project scientist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California, which leads Curiosity’s mission. Methane keeps Mars scientists busy with lab work and computer modeling projects that aim to explain why the gas behaves strangely and is detected only in Gale Crater. A NASA research group recently shared an interesting proposal. Reporting in a March paper in the Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets, the group suggested that methane — no matter how it’s produced — could be sealed under solidified salt that might form in Martian regolith, which is “soil” made of broken rock and dust. When temperature rises during warmer seasons or times of day, weakening the seal, the methane could seep out. Led by Alexander Pavlov, a planetary scientist at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, the researchers suggest the gas also can erupt in puffs when seals crack under the pressure of, say, a rover the size of a small SUV driving over it. The team’s hypothesis may help explain why methane is detected only in Gale Crater, Pavlov said, given that’s it’s one of two places on Mars where a robot is roving and drilling the surface. (The other is Jezero Crater, where NASA’s Perseverance rover is working, though that rover doesn’t have a methane-detecting instrument.) Pavlov traces the origin of this hypothesis to an unrelated experiment he led in 2017, which involved growing microorganisms in a simulated Martian permafrost (frozen soil) infused with salt, as much of Martian permafrost is. Pavlov and his colleagues tested whether bacteria known as halophiles, which live in saltwater lakes and other salt-rich environments on Earth, could thrive in similar conditions on Mars. The microbe-growing results proved inconclusive, he said, but the researchers noticed something unexpected: The top layer of soil formed a salt crust as salty ice sublimated, turning from a solid to a gas and leaving the salt behind. Permafrost on Mars and Earth “We didn’t think much of it at the moment,” Pavlov said, but he remembered the soil crust in 2019, when SAM’s tunable laser spectrometer detected a methane burst no one could explain. “That’s when it clicked in my mind,” Pavlov said. And that’s when he and a team began testing the conditions that could form and crack hardened salt seals. Pavlov’s team tested five samples of permafrost infused with varying concentrations of a salt called perchlorate that’s widespread on Mars. (There’s likely no permafrost in Gale Crater today, but the seals could have formed long ago when Gale was colder and icier.) The scientists exposed each sample to different temperatures and air pressure inside a Mars simulation chamber at NASA Goddard. Periodically, Pavlov’s team injected neon, a methane analog, underneath the soil sample and measured the gas pressure below and above it. Higher pressure beneath the sample implied the gas was trapped. Ultimately, a seal formed under Mars-like conditions within three to 13 days only in samples with 5% to 10% perchlorate concentration. This is a sample of mock Martian regolith, which is “soil” made of broken rock and dust. It’s one of five samples that scientists infused with varying concentrations of a salt called perchlorate that’s widespread on Mars. They exposed each sample to Mars-like conditions in the Mars simulation chamber at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. The brittle clumps in the sample above show that a seal of salt did not form in this sample because the concentration of salt was too low. NASA/Alexander Pavlov This image is of another sample of mock Martian “soil” after it was removed from the Mars simulation chamber. The surface is sealed with a solid crust of salt. Alexander Pavlov and his team found that a seal formed after a sample spent three to 13 days under Mars-like conditions, and only if it had 5% to 10% perchlorate salt concentration. The color is lighter in the center where the sample was scratched with a metal pick. The light color indicates a drier soil underneath the top layer, which absorbed moisture from the air as soon as the sample was removed from the simulation chamber, turning brown. NASA/Alexander Pavlov That’s a much higher salt concentration than Curiosity has measured in Gale Crater. But regolith there is rich in a different type of salt minerals called sulfates, which Pavlov’s team wants to test next to see if they can also form seals. Curiosity rover has arrived at a region believed to have formed as Mars’ climate was drying. Improving our understanding of methane generation and destruction processes on Mars is a key recommendation from the 2022 NASA Planetary Mission Senior Review, and theoretical work like Pavlov’s is critical to this effort. However, scientists say they also need more consistent methane measurements. SAM sniffs for methane only several times a year because it is otherwise busy doing its primary job of drilling samples from the surface and analyzing their chemical makeup. In 2018, NASA announced that the Sample Analysis at Mars chemistry lab aboard the Curiosity Rover discovered ancient organic molecules that had been preserved in rocks for billions of years. Findings like this one help scientists understand the habitability of early Mars and pave the way for future missions to the Red Planet.Credit: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight CenterDownload this video in HD formats from NASA Goddard’s Scientific Visualization Studio “Methane experiments are resource intensive, so we have to be very strategic when we decide to do them,” said Goddard’s Charles Malespin, principal investigator for SAM. Yet, to test how often methane levels spike, for instance, would require a new generation of surface instruments that measure methane continuously from many locations across Mars, scientists say. “Some of the methane work will have to be left to future surface spacecraft that are more focused on answering these specific questions,” Vasavada said. By Lonnie ShekhtmanNASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md. Share Details Last Updated Apr 22, 2024 Contact Lonnie Shekhtman [email protected] Location Goddard Space Flight Center Related Terms Curiosity (Rover) Goddard Space Flight Center Mars Mars Exploration Program Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) Missions NASA Directorates Planetary Science Division Science Mission Directorate The Solar System

#space #astronomy #news #science

[beevean]

Log 23.06.1991

The Blue Blur

An unexpected inconvenience has just occurred in the midst of our search for the 7 high energy readings we detected coming from this planet while passing through this solar sector

One of our scout teams has run into what appeared to be one of the natives of this planet while searching for one of the energy readings which was located on a small landmass in the southern hemisphere-. The landmass mysteriously appeared to be in a constant state of motion, most likely as a consequence of the presence of whatever object is emenating those high energy readings, as theorised by our science team.

The native was unlike anything our previous research on this planet’s hinabitants had anticipated

Covered in a blue fur and standing less than a meter tall, the creature exhibited the ability to move at astonishing speeds: it managed to quickly dispose of our troops, moving so quickly that, to our men’s eyes, it appeared to be little more than a blur. The troops have thus started to call the creature “The Blue Blur”.

We have been unable to determine the creature’s motives for interfering with our operations due to our linguistic analysts being unable to fully translate this planet’s many languages, however it appears that it may be trying to prevent us from obtaining the sources of the 7 high energy readings we are seeking

Command was both frustrated and fascinated by this development: the creature is to be dealt with at once to further our operations on this planet but we are also to capture it alive if possible in order to study it closely and perhaps uncover the secret behind its great speed. Granting such speed to our next generation of Space Pirate militia would be a great asset

From now on all units are to approach the Blue Blur with extreme caution: Omega level weaponry is authorised as is the use of heat seeking missiles. Ice based weaponry is also highly adviced as a way to capture the creature alive

#sonic the hedgehog #metroid #ohhh fascinating! #good luck with him space pirates :)

[ogradyfilm]

Recently Viewed: Solaris (1972)

[The following review contains SPOILERS; YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!]

I didn’t fall in love with Solaris at first sight. Its pacing is languid and glacial even by director Andrei Tarkovsky’s usual standards; by the time the protagonist arrives at the eponymous space station, over forty minutes have elapsed—and the story doesn’t exactly pick up momentum from there. Exposition is delivered with all the urgency of a trickle of molasses and all the clarity of a technical manual that’s been printed in the wrong order.

And yet… the film lingered in my mind, gradually, seductively revealing the beauty beneath its introspective navel-gazing. Indeed, it is only appropriate that the movie continued to haunt my dreams like a cosmic phantom long after the end credits rolled, for memory is its central thematic concern.

The plot revolves around a small team of astronauts studying a seemingly sentient planet. In response to being bombarded with radiation, the intelligence governing the alien world probes each researcher’s subconscious, constructing neutrino-based doppelgängers of their friends, children, and family members in an apparent effort to communicate. But because these “Visitors” are shaped by the host’s inherently subjective personal experiences, they can only ever be shallow, two-dimensional imitations of the individuals from whom they were copied—ethereal specters torn out of a dreamlike past. Even when the simulacrum of our hero’s wife begins to develop an identity of her own, she is defined entirely by how she diverges from the original—and this uncanny dissonance between the rich complexity of life and the insubstantial hollowness of its reflection slowly drives the crew to the brink of insanity.

Solaris concludes with a visual bookend, repeating the poetic montage that served as its prologue: green reeds sway gracefully beneath a gently flowing stream, red leaves dance lazily in the breeze, sunlight glistens brilliantly on the surface of a placid lake. Replication, however, has greatly diminished the vibrancy of the imagery: the once vivid colors are now faded and muted, and a thin layer of ice creates the illusion of unnatural stillness, as though time itself has frozen.

The implication is clear: nostalgia has irreparably tarnished the characters’ perception of reality, leaving them incapable of distinguishing between an object and its shadow on the wall.

#Solaris #Andrei Tarkovsky #Criterion Channel #Criterion Collection #Criterion #poetic cinema #film #writing #movie review

[xasha777]

In the year 2135, Earth had entered an era of exploration and diplomacy among the stars. The Council of the European Union, now rebranded as the United Council of Earth (UCE), had taken on the mantle of leading humanity's foray into the cosmos. Among the many initiatives, Project Frostfall was one of the most ambitious—establishing a research outpost on Epsilon-7, a frozen exoplanet rich in rare minerals and potential scientific breakthroughs.

Captain Marcus Lorne, a seasoned astronaut with piercing blue eyes and an unyielding determination, was chosen to lead the mission. The image of him, ice crusting his spacesuit and helmet, captured a moment of silent contemplation amidst the frozen wilderness of Epsilon-7.

The mission had been progressing smoothly until an unexpected blizzard hit the base. Communication with Earth was severed, and the crew had to rely on their wits and training to survive. Captain Lorne, despite the harsh conditions, ventured out to repair the primary communication relay, a task that required navigating through the treacherous ice fields surrounding the outpost.

As he trudged through the snow, the frozen landscape mirrored the isolation he felt. Each step was a reminder of the stakes at hand—not just for his team but for all of humanity. The Council of the European Union, now operating under the broader banner of the UCE, had pinned their hopes on the success of Project Frostfall. Failure was not an option.

Lorne's breath fogged up his visor as he approached the relay tower. The frost-covered device was a stark contrast against the backdrop of towering palm-like trees, genetically modified to withstand the planet's harsh climate. The eerie juxtaposition of tropical flora and icy terrain was a testament to the advancements humanity had made in terraforming technologies.

He began the repairs, his gloved hands working with precision despite the cold. As he connected the final circuit, a surge of power coursed through the relay, and the base's systems flickered back to life. The familiar hum of communication channels re-established contact with Earth.

"Mission Control, this is Captain Lorne. Do you read me?" he called out, his voice steady.

"Loud and clear, Captain," came the reply, a wave of relief washing over him. "What's your status?"

"Relay is repaired. We're back online," Lorne reported, his eyes scanning the horizon. The storm was beginning to subside, revealing the stark beauty of Epsilon-7 in its wake.

"Excellent work, Captain. The Council will be pleased. Prepare for data transmission," Mission Control instructed.

As Lorne began uploading the collected data, he couldn't help but feel a sense of accomplishment. The successful repair was a small victory in the grand scheme of the mission, but it was a crucial one. It meant that humanity's quest for knowledge and expansion was still on track.

Later that night, as the crew gathered around the base's central hub, Captain Lorne shared stories of Earth and the vision of the UCE. They were more than just explorers; they were the harbingers of a new era of cooperation and discovery. The Council of the European Union, with its centuries of experience in diplomacy and governance, had evolved into a guiding force for humanity's collective ambitions among the stars.

And as they toasted to their success, the image of Marcus Lorne, standing resolute against the icy winds of Epsilon-7, became a symbol of human perseverance and the boundless possibilities that lay ahead.

[spacetimewithstuartgary]

Three years later, search for life on Mars continues

In the three years since NASA’s Perseverance rover touched down on Mars, the NASA science team has made the daily task of investigating the red planet seem almost mundane.

The rover and its helicopter sidekick Ingenuity have captured stunning images of Mars and collected 23 unique rock core samples along 17 miles of an ancient river delta.

One science team member, University of Cincinnati Associate Professor Andy Czaja, said he sometimes has to remind himself that the project is anything but ordinary.

“This is so cool. I’m exploring another planet,” he said.

Czaja teaches in the Department of Geosciences in UC’s College of Arts and Sciences. He is a paleobiologist and astrobiologist helping NASA look for evidence of ancient life on Mars using a rover outfitted with custom geoscience and imaging tools with three of his UC graduate students, Andrea Corpolongo, Brianna Orrill and Sam Hall.

Three years into the mission, the rover has performed like a champ, he said.

“Perseverance has excelled. It’s been fantastic. It has such capable instrumentation for doing the geology work. It’s able to explore distant objects with its zoom lens cameras and can focus on tiny objects at incredible resolution,” Czaja said.

Along the way, the mission has recorded a number of firsts: first powered flight, first recorded sounds of Mars, the longest autonomous drive (nearly a half-mile) and new discoveries about the planet’s geology, atmosphere and climate.

Czaja was part of the NASA team that decided where on Mars to land the rover. And he remained on the science team that would pore over its daily data and discoveries to decide what the rover should do next.

Among the new discoveries was finding primary igneous rocks in Jezero Crater. These rocks are the hardened result of liquid magma. They offer scientists promising clues about refining the known age of the planet.

Scientists suspect Mars once had long-lived rivers, lakes and streams. Today, water on Mars is found in ice at the poles and trapped below the Martian surface.

Czaja and his student Corpolongo were co-lead authors of a paper published in the Journal of Geophysical Research, Planets that revealed that Mars also may have had hydrothermal systems based on the hydrated magnesium sulfate the rover identified in the volcanic rocks.

“When those rocks cool off and fracture, they become a habitable environment for life,” Czaja said.

Corpolongo also led a similar research paper in the same journal co-authored by Czaja detailing the results of the rover’s analysis of samples using the SHERLOC deep ultraviolet Raman and fluorescence instrument. Both papers featured contributions from dozens of their fellow NASA researchers on the project.

Samples collected by the rover may finally answer the question about whether we are alone in the universe.

“We have not found any definitive evidence of life in these deposits yet. But if there were fossil microorganisms trapped in the rocks, they would be too small to see with the rover,” Czaja said.

Czaja is hopeful funding will be approved for the anticipated Mars Sample Return mission to retrieve the hermetically sealed titanium tubes scientists have spent three years filling with interesting rock cores.

“These hydrated minerals trap water within themselves and record the history of how and when they formed,” the study said. “Returning samples of these minerals to Earth would allow researchers to explore the history of Mars’ water and climate and possibly evidence of ancient life with the most sensitive instruments possible.”

But that was just the beginning. Perseverance began its deliberate exploration from the floor of the crater to the front of the delta, formed by an ancient river or drainage channel where it encountered sedimentary rocks that often contain trapped minerals and another avenue for evidence of ancient life.

And last year the rover made it to the crater’s margin in what used to be an enormous lake where it is exploring deposits of magnesium carbonate, which can form geologically or biologically from bacteria.

Czaja said the decision to send Perseverance to Jezero Crater appears to be paying off.

“Absolutely. There were other places we could have gone that might have been just as good,” he said. “You won’t know until you explore them all. But Jezero was picked for good reason and it has been completely justified.”

The helicopter Ingenuity’s flying days appear to be over after it sustained rotor damage in January after landing on its 72nd flight. But Perseverance is still going strong. It still has 15 sample tubes at its disposal to capture additional interesting geologic specimens.

Next the rover will make its way out of Jezero Crater to explore the wider area. Czaja said they are likely to find rocks dating back 4 billion years or more. And Mars could harbor stromatolites or rocks that contain evidence of ancient layered mats of bacteria visible to the naked eye. On Earth, these rocks are sometimes found in extreme environments such as geyser basins.

The horizon of discovery continues to expand daily before the science team.

“I hope that Perseverance has just whetted our appetite for more Martian exploration,” Czaja said. “And bringing back samples will allow us to study Mars and search for evidence of ancient life with instruments that haven’t even been invented yet for years and years to come.”

TOP IMAGE....NASA "parks" Perseverance to wait out the Mars solar conjunction, a period when Earth and Mars are on opposite sides of the sun. The sun's ionized gas can interfere with communications, so NASA idled the rover until Earth and Mars were back in direct view. Photo/NASA/JPL-Caltech

CENTRE IMAGE....NASA's Perseverance rover has been investigating rocks at the front of what scientists believe is a former river or floodwater delta in Mars' Jezero Crater. Illustration/NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona/USGS

LOWER IMAGE....NASA's Perseverance Mars rover stitches together a panorama of Mars using its mast-mounted camera. Photo/JPL-Caltech/ASU/MSSS

BOTTOM IMAGE....The rover Perseverance has taken hundreds of thousands of images of Mars in the past three years. Photo/NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS

#science #space #astronomy #physics #news #nasa #astrophysics #MARS

[ainews]

Researchers have discovered that kits, or baby foxes, have a unique tongue structure that allows them to easily consume ham, a popular food for woolly mammoths. This finding sheds light on the dietary habits and evolution of both the kits and the extinct mammoths.

The study, conducted by a team of zoologists and paleontologists, looked at the tongue structure of kits from various species of foxes and compared it to that of other mammal species. They found that kits have a specialized tongue that is slightly curved and has a prominent alveolar ridge, making it perfect for consuming ham.

The alveolar ridge, which is located behind the front teeth, is responsible for helping animals break down their food. In kits, this ridge is particularly pronounced and is used like a blade to cut through tough meat. This makes ham, which is often cured and can be quite tough, the perfect food for kits.

But why would kits need to have such a specialized tongue structure in the first place? The answer lies in their evolutionary history. The researchers believe that the kits' ancestors, which lived alongside woolly mammoths, needed to be able to consume the tough and fibrous meat of the mammoths in order to survive. As a result, their tongues evolved to be able to handle such a diet.

And it seems that this adaptation has been passed down to modern-day kits, even though they no longer prey on woolly mammoths. This is because kits, like many other animals, have a strong genetic connection to their ancestors and retain many of their traits and adaptations.

Additionally, the researchers also postulate that the kits' specialized tongue structure may have played a role in the survival of ham during the ice age. As mammoths became extinct and kits' primary food source disappeared, they may have had to turn to other animals, including humans, for food. The ability to consume ham, which was a staple in human diets, may have kept the kits alive during this difficult time.

This discovery not only sheds light on the unique adaptations of kits and their evolutionary history, but also provides insight into the eating habits of woolly mammoths. While it may seem like a small detail, the fact that kits are laminal for ham has opened up a whole new avenue of research and understanding for these fascinating creatures and the extinct species they once shared the planet with.

#ai generated #fake news

[rise-tv]

Do Aliens Exist? 4 Bold Proofs Of Aliens

A new proof of aliens: Do aliens exist? Since no alien life has been identified, this does not rule it out. Is there life beyond Earth?

The major key facts:-

No confirmed alien proof, but NASA actively searches for life beyond Earth.

Expanding knowledge of habitable environments beyond Earth and Mars.

4 potential “new proof of aliens” mentioned: Mars vegetation (dismissed), microbes in meteorites (inconclusive), Mars canals (illusion), and Viking Lander results (controversial).

A vast universe makes alien life possibilities intriguing.

Scientific exploration is the key to uncovering the truth.

Explanations — Do Aliens exist and a reference by NASA:-

Isthere new proof of Aliens? This is a fascinating subject that NASA has been attempting to comprehend, investigate, and answer for a long time. We have yet to discover life on another planet, nor have we seen any scientifically verified evidence of extraterrestrial life.

However, if we look beyond the huge things like elephants, whales, and redwood trees, and focus on the microscopic things, we’ve found microbial life almost everywhere on Earth.

Understanding of livable settings:-

Our understanding of livable settings continues to broaden. We’ve only just started looking beyond Earth. NASA has dispatched five spacecraft and four landing craft to the outermost layer of Mars. Furthermore, orbiters have been built with some incredible equipment to capture images of all the surfaces of the Red Planet. But we’ve only explored a small portion of Mars. And that’s just one of the promising places to seek life beyond our solar system.

Ice-covered worlds in the solar system’s outermost regions, such as Saturn’s Enceladus and Jupiter’s Europa, appear to have subterranean oceans that could support life. And that is only what our solar system contains. The more exoplanets discovered near other stars, the more scientists learn about the variety of settings that potentially support life. We can’t say for sure if there is new proof of Aliens or if they exist.

“The universe is a pretty big place.” “If it’s just us, it seems like a terrible waste of space.” (Carl Sagan)

A little reference to our last article:-

Previously, we explained the reason why to fear AI in “Expose AI Fear Demise.” Now, we plan to describe to you the possible variations of bizarre experiences and incidents. Our professional team is efficiently researching different strategies and approaches to boost your understanding capacities. We also honour your awareness of our content. That’s why we are fully ready to not only help you but to improve your mind with evolving insight. Let’s move on!

Are you searching for strange and mysterious content…?

Amuse yourself with a variety of mysterious, strange and wonder content on Rise TV’s impressive shows and sequences. Like Edge of Wonder, where we describe striking cases from our massive investigation collection.

Are you ready to unlock your brain to renewed opportunities? Do not skip the possibility of joining as a respected Gentlemen subscriber and undertaking this weird journey with us, achieving a tremendous beginning.

4 Bold Proofs Of Aliens:-

As far as we can recall, humans have questioned if they are alone in the world. However, in September 2013, a team of researchers stated that a cell fragment discovered during a balloon ride in the high atmosphere could be evidence of life from space. While people and conspiracy theorists frequently present new proofs of aliens’ visits, scientists have also claimed to have discovered evidence of extraterrestrial life. Here are the top five scientific proofs of aliens.

1- C. Clarke’s Bushes On Planet Mars

Sir Arthur C. Clarke made news in 2001 when he claimed that freshly returned photographs from NASA’s Mars Global Surveyor revealed the presence of trees and bushes on Mars. Most scientists dismissed the notion, but the writer maintained his view.

“I’m quite serious when I say have a really good look at these new Mars images.” “Something is moving and changing with the seasons which suggests, at least, vegetation.” Sir Arthur C. Clarke,

2- The Microbes In Meteorites

NASA scientist Richard Hoover issued a study claiming to have discovered fossil evidence of bacteria in carbon-based rocks from outer space. Hoover used scanning electron microscopes to examine meteorite slices and found filaments and formations that he described as resembling microscopic single-celled algae.

Some scientists were hesitant, partly because the article appeared in the doubtful Journal of Cosmology. Other researchers stated that the study was carefully done, but it was too early to judge if the claim was valid.

3- Mars Canal

The concept that a sophisticated network of canals crossed Mars was initially proposed in 1877 by Italian astronomers and later popularized by astronomer Percival Lowell. Lowell created complex sketches of what he believed to be canals based on observations collected at his observatory in Flagstaff, Arizona.

The concept was reasonably popular until the early twentieth century when astronomical measurements were enhanced and higher-resolution imaging exposed the “canals” to be illusions of light and geologic structures.

4- Viking Lander Results

In 1976, NASA’s two Viking landers landed on Mars’ surface. The probes carried out a variety of biological investigations, including gathering samples of Martian soil for analysis of organic molecules (the building blocks of life) and biosignatures that might suggest the presence of microbes.

The landers found no evidence of organics, but the onboard Labeled Release experiment discovered a reactive agent in Mars’ surface material that produced more carbon dioxide. Gilbert Levin, the engineer who invented Labeled Release, determined that the behaviour was caused by living microbes found in Martian soil. However, the conclusion has yet to be embraced by the scientific community.

Concluding Thoughts:-

NASA has been exploring the possibility of alien life for years, but so far, there is no concrete evidence. While microbial life has been found on Earth, the search for extraterrestrial life continues, with Mars being a promising candidate for further exploration.

Scientists have claimed to have discovered evidence of extraterrestrial life, including a cell fragment found in the high atmosphere, challenging the age-old question of whether humans are alone in the world.

NASA scientist Richard Hoover’s study suggesting the discovery of fossilized bacteria in meteorite rocks from space has sparked debate among scientists.

Some question the credibility of the findings while others acknowledge the thoroughness of the research but emphasize the need for further investigation before confirming.

The Viking landers’ experiments on Mars in 1976 did not find evidence of organic molecules, but the Labeled Release experiment suggested the presence of living microbes in Martian soil, a conclusion that has not been widely accepted by scientists.

#mystery #strange #documentary #risetv #wonderous #podcast #aliens #entertainment

[jcmarchi]

Water Vapour Discovered in a Small Exoplanet’s Atmosphere - Technology Org

New Post has been published on https://thedigitalinsider.com/water-vapour-discovered-in-a-small-exoplanets-atmosphere-technology-org/

Water Vapour Discovered in a Small Exoplanet’s Atmosphere - Technology Org

A Canadian-led team of astronomers using NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope reports observing the smallest exoplanet to have water vapour detected in its atmosphere. At only approximately twice Earth’s diameter, the planet GJ 9827d could be an example of potential planets with water-rich atmospheres elsewhere in our galaxy.

Artist’s concept of GJ 9827d. With only about twice Earth’s diameter, the planet orbits the red dwarf star GJ 9827; two inner planets in the system are on the left. Image credit: NASA, ESA, Leah Hustak (STSCI), Ralf Crawford (STSCI)

Headed by scientists at Université de Montréal, the study was published in The Astrophysical Journal Letters.

“This would be the first time that we can directly show through an atmospheric detection that these planets with water-rich atmospheres can actually exist around other stars,” said co-author Björn Benneke of UdeM’s Trottier Institute for Research on Exoplanets (iREx). “This is an important step toward determining the prevalence and diversity of atmospheres on rocky planets.”

Two plausible scenarios

It remains too early to tell whether Hubble spectroscopically measured a small amount of water vapour in a puffy hydrogen-rich atmosphere, or whether the planet’s atmosphere is mostly made of water, left behind after a primeval hydrogen/helium atmosphere evaporated under stellar radiation.

“Our observing program was designed specifically to not only detect molecules in the planet’s atmosphere, but to actually look specifically for water vapour,” said the study’s lead author, Pierre-Alexis Roy, a doctoral student at iREx. “Either result would be exciting, whether water vapour is dominant or just a tiny species in a hydrogen-dominant atmosphere.”

In the first scenario, the planet would still be clinging to a hydrogen-rich atmosphere laced with water, making it a mini-Neptune.

In the second, it would resemble a larger and hotter version of Europa, Jupiter’s moon, which has twice as much water under its crust as is found on Earth. In this case, said Benneke, “GJ 9827d could be half-water, half-rock: there would be a lot of water vapour on top of some smaller rocky body.”

Smaller and smaller planets

“Until now, we had not been able to directly detect the atmosphere of such a small planet – and we’re slowly getting in this regime now,” added Benneke. “At some point, as we study smaller planets, there must be a transition where there’s no more hydrogen on these small worlds, and they have atmospheres more like Venus, which is dominated by carbon dioxide.”

Because GJ 9827d  is as hot as Venus – around 430 degrees Celsius – it definitely would be an inhospitable, steamy world if its atmosphere were predominantly water vapour, the scientists say.

If the planet has a residual water-rich atmosphere, then it must have formed farther away from its host star, where the temperature is cold and water is available in the form of ice. In this scenario, the planet would have then migrated closer to its star and received more radiation; its hydrogen was heated and escaped or is still in the process of escaping the planet’s weak gravity.

In the other case, the planet would have formed close to the hot star and would have only a trace of water in its atmosphere.

Space telescopes on the case

The Hubble program observed the exoplanet during 11 transits – events in which the planet crossed in front of its star – spaced out over three years. During transits, starlight is filtered through the planet’s atmosphere and has the spectral fingerprint of water molecules. If there are clouds on the planet, they are low enough in the atmosphere not completely to hide Hubble’s view of the atmosphere, and so it can probe water vapour above the clouds.

This discovery opens the door to future study of these types of planets by the James Webb Space Telescope, which can see much more via infrared observation, including carbon-bearing molecules like carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide and methane. Once a total inventory of a planet’s elements is taken, comparisons can be made to its star.

Source: University of Montreal

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Building a New World with ExoColony: Planet Survival

ExoColony: Planet Survival space colony simulation game coming for Linux, Mac, and Windows PC. Thanks to the brilliant team at Simplemole for crafting this experience. Due to make its way onto Steam in 2024. In ExoColony: Planet Survival you’re transported to a distant planet, starting underground with only a small group of pioneers. The game is still in development, along with the 1st playable prototype (Alpha version 0.5). Due to having Linux players shape the very nature of this new world. While ensuring it becomes a thriving hub of life and technology. Your Colonists' Journey: ExoColony: Planet Survival is not just about buildings and technology. Think of your pioneers as the heart of your new world. Their lives, much like ours, go through stages. They're born, go to school, form families, work, and eventually retire. As you lead, you must make sure they get the right education, resources, and care they need. Sustainability Is Key: The mantra in ExoColony: Planet Survival is simple. If you use something, find a way to reuse it. Got waste? Think of how it can be turned into something beneficial. Every Drop is Vital: On this new planet, water isn't just a drink, it’s life itself. So you'll find yourself melting ice to obtain it, then using it to help grow crops. But that’s not all - once used, you find ways to recycle and reuse that water. While ensuring that your colony keeps blooming. Air is More Than Just Breath: Your planet has its own atmosphere, and it's not necessarily friendly. As a leader in ExoColony: Planet Survival, you need to ensure that the air your pioneers breathe is safe. This involves changing harmful gases like CO2 into breathable oxygen and making sure the pressure is just right.

ExoColony: Planet Survival Underground

From Nothing to Everything: You start with almost nothing. But through mining and refining, you lay the foundation of your colony's progress and prosperity. Keep The Lights On: In this space colony simulation, energy is crucial. Not only do you need to find it, but you also have to store it and ensure it reaches where it's needed, without any interruptions. Innovation at Every Turn: Here's where your ExoColony: Planet Survival strategic skills come into play. Through research, you get to discover advanced structures and technologies that elevate your colony. Making Things Move: Drones will be your best friends in ExoColony: Planet Survival. They help transport materials and goods the best, ensuring everything is where it's supposed to be. A Touch of Luxury: Your pioneers aren't robots; they have tastes and desires. Whether it's a particular food or a luxury item, providing for these not only keeps them happy but also motivated.

Expect Surprises:

Just like in life, you'll find unexpected challenges thrown your way. Your skill lies in how you tackle and overcome them in ExoColony: Planet Survival. Make it Yours: The ultimate goal? Personalize this new world. Shape its landscape, change its environment, and make it a second home. In essence, ExoColony: Planet Survival space colony simulation isn't just a game; it's a challenge. Since it blends strategy, care, and imagination. Dive in, and embark on a journey of creation and leadership. Due to make its way onto Linux, Mac, and Windows PC via Steam in February 2024.

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