MI weekly selection #99
Earth’s water may be more ancient than previously estimated
Scientists have come across evidence suggesting that Earth’s water may have been around for much longer than previously thought. The latest findings show that water may have been present in the inner solar system at least 135 million years earlier than previous estimates and that it may have been housed inside meteorites that originally came from the asteroid Vesta.
Physicists propose new explanation for glowing radio loops
Physicists at the University of Manchester’s Jodrell Bank Center for Astrophysics in the U.K. have proposed an alternative explanation for the mysterious radio loops that flash across the sky. According to Matias Vidal and his team, the glowing streaks may be due to an expanding shell of gas leftover from previous supernova explosions.
Evolution may have been delayed by Earth’s limited oxygen supply
Species might have paused on evolution for millions of years due to ancient Earth’s limited oxygen supply. According to an analysis published in the journal Science, the oxygen supply was too limited more than 500 million years ago to support the development of complex life.
Ancient DNA reveals insights about European ancestry
Scientists are investigating DNA captured from ancient human remains and looking for fresh insights into the ancestral origins of modern Europeans. So far, researchers have discovered that Europeans carry genes from three distinct populations. They have also pinpointed specific periods in which some Europeans’ DNA shifted.
Genes play significant role in Ebola survival
Genetic factors could play an important role in whether people survive the Ebola virus. After infecting mice from eight different strains and conventional lab mice with Ebola, researchers found that conventional mice died from infection but did not produce hemorrhagic disease and that the symptoms and outcomes of the mice varied greatly.