NY forest fossils date back 386M years The 386-million-year-old fossils of trees found in New York’s Catskills are likely the remains of the world’s oldest forest. Researchers found the remains of three different types of trees in what is now a quarry. New Scientist Ancient seawall finally gave way to rising waters A seawall dating […]
Alternative explanation for landslides in Mars Long landslides on Mars may have been caused by vibrations of unstable light rocks at the bottom of the slide. The findings, which offer an alternative view to previous suggestions that the landslides were caused by underlying ice, could give researchers more insight on the landslide risks on Mars […]
Satellite data, algorithms can help predict volcanic eruptions Satellite radar and algorithms can be used to determine when a volcano is on the verge of an eruption. Interferometric synthetic aperture radar images can show ground movement at volcanoes and an algorithm can analyze the changes, compare them to previous movements and create an alert. Eos […]
New image offers closer view of interstellar object Astronomers used the W.M. Keck Observatory’s Low-Resolution Imaging Spectrometer to take a new image of 2I/Borisov, the second interstellar object ever observed passing through our solar system. The image shows the coma of the interstellar comet, which will pass by the sun early next month and Earth […]
Clues point to possible fifth fundamental force Physicists say they’ve gathered more evidence that there could be a fifth physical force in addition to gravity, electromagnetism and a pair of nuclear interactions. The researchers say they’ve glimpsed a force carried by a particle they’ve named X17 most recently coming from a helium atom; if the […]
Hayabusa2 on its way back to Earth with asteroid material Japan’s Hayabusa2 has left the asteroid Ryugu and is on its way back to Earth, bringing with it samples of subsurface material. The spacecraft will return sometime at the end of next year. Nature Sun’s plasma jets formed by magnetic field shifts Spicules of plasma […]
Remains of woolly mammoths found in Mexico pits The remains of 14 woolly mammoths have been found in pits in Mexico dug about 15,000 years ago by humans, according to officials with the National Institute of Anthropology and History. “[The discovery] represents a watershed, a touchstone on what we imagined until now was the interaction […]
AI outplays most humans in StarCraft II video game An artificial intelligence developed by tech firm DeepMind is better at playing the strategic video game StarCraft II than most human players, and its prowess is detailed in a study published in Nature. “Ever since computers cracked Go, chess, and poker, StarCraft has emerged by consensus […]
Unexpected extra digit found on aye-aye lemur The already unusual aye-aye lemur has revealed another secret to researchers — a spare thumb hidden in its palm. Over time, the animals became so adept at tap foraging, they lost their ability to grip, but may have used their pseudo thumbs to make up for it. The […]
Moon has relatively recent ice deposits Researchers say most of the ice on the moon’s south pole is more than 3 billion years old, possibly produced by volcanoes or asteroids, and younger ice deposits may have come from meteorites or solar wind instead. The ice could serve as a source of water or rocket fuel […]