Category: What happened in Earth’s past?

Energetic winds from a distant X-ray source

A team of astronomers were studying GRS 1716-249, an object believed to host a black hole. A wind of gas flowing out of it can be seen in visible light, making it the sixth object of its class to have shown this feature till date.

Mysterious gas found near Milky Way’s center

A mysterious cold gas shooting out of the center of the Milky Way galaxy has left scientists puzzled.

A peek into stellar childhood: How do stars grow?

Maybe you didn't have a stellar childhood, but stars definitely did. (Get it?) Learn about a major research project that investigated one mechanism involved in how stars get bigger.

How stars can limit life in the universe

For the past few decades, scientists have been looking at planets outside of our solar system to see if they could host life. Now, scientists have discovered another factor for habitability: radiation from the planet’s central star.

Could Life Thrive on Radiation? Scientists Say It’s Possible

All life on Earth survives because of the sun. Plants use a process called photosynthesis to transfer energy from the Sun’s rays into the sugars that build their stems and leaves. Animals either eat the plants directly, or eat other animals that have eaten plants. Countless other organisms, like bacteria, algae, and…

How water shaped the Earth

Posted on November 21, 2020April 1, 2021 by Romulo Cruz 204 views

Water has molded our planet into what it is today, in ways you may not have imagined! #water #waterislife

Could “Fools’ Gold” have helped build the first proteins?

Posted on September 21, 2020January 15, 2021 by Marcos Jusino-Maldonado 95 views

How and why humans exist are questions that have challenged different cultures ever since the dawn of civilization. Many scientists have taken upon their…

What beached whales can teach us about antibiotic resistance

Posted on September 17, 2020January 15, 2021 by Ma. Francesca Santiago 145 views

Researchers found that more than half of the bacteria collected from stranded cetaceans in the Philippines showed antimicrobial resistance to commonly used…

Deep-sea mining impacts on diverse ocean ecosystems

Posted on September 1, 2020April 7, 2021 by ACorpolongo 109 views

Sunlight does not reach the deepest parts of the ocean, but life still thrives in the darkness. Below depths of 200 meters, where sunlight cannot reach, some…

What the velociraptor’s brain tells us about its diet Velociraptor was not just a speedy hunter capable of running down food. Its diet was also flexible.

Posted on April 30, 2021April 30, 2021 by LoganKing 388 views

The brain of one of popular culture’s most infamous dinosaurs helps to clarify its diet and hearing range.

Giant dinosaur tracks found in a cave in France Sauropods were previously thought to have had their heyday in the Late Jurassic period. Recent fossil evidence says it was probably much earlier than that.

Posted on March 15, 2021April 2, 2021 by Dilara Kılıçarslan and Gina Misra 446 views

Sauropods were previously thought to have had their heyday in the Late Jurassic period. Recent fossil evidence says it was probably much earlier than that.

This fossil is the last common ancestor of worms Ikaria wariootia, a fossil, is predicted to be 560-551 million years old and thought to be the last common ancestor of bilaterians, like worms, found in South Australia.

Posted on February 15, 2021April 2, 2021 by Deniz Akbulut 68 views

When did simple life become more complex, such as the modern animals we see today? A recent study may have uncovered evidence for one of these turning points. At Nilpena National Heritage Site, South Australia, scientists discovered new fossils that have never been seen before.

How water shaped the Earth Minerologists, geologists, astronomers, astrobiologists explain how water shaped our planet’s history by studying the types of chemical reactions where water plays a fundamental role.

Posted on November 21, 2020April 1, 2021 by Romulo Cruz 204 views

Water has molded our planet into what it is today, in ways you may not have imagined! #water #waterislife

Chemicals on mineral surfaces may have jumpstarted life Researchers observed selected biological molecules multiplying and fueling their own chemistry across mineral surfaces, resembling the patterns of a living metabolism.

Posted on November 5, 2020April 1, 2021 by Emily Felder 66 views

Were metabolic pathways established before life emerged? New experiments observe life-like patterns self-propagating on #mineral surfaces. #astrobiology #geobiology

Could “Fools’ Gold” have helped build the first proteins? Scientists measured the forces that allow iron pyrite to help amino acids bind to each other at the bottom of the ocean -- to understand how life may have formed a long time ago.

Posted on September 21, 2020January 15, 2021 by Marcos Jusino-Maldonado 95 views

How and why humans exist are questions that have challenged different cultures ever since the dawn of civilization. Many scientists have taken upon their shoulders the duty of answering these fundamental questions, coming up with several especially creative ideas over the past few decades. One prominent idea is that…

What the ruby slippers from The Wizard of Oz can teach us about conservation Researchers from the Smithsonian meticulously analyze the 80-year-old ruby slippers and learned how to preserve them for future generations

Posted on January 15, 2019April 7, 2021 by Gina Misra 61 views

Scientists use advanced lab techniques to examine every detail of the ruby slippers to understand what they are made of, the age of the materials, and their present state. As a result, they learned how to protect them from deteriorating further.