This week’s science news includes a giant “superstructure” larger than Idaho growing on the ocean floor, an ancient bullet with Julius Caesar’s name etched into it, and an extinct “hypercarnivore” that was actually mostly vegetarian. revealed the grizzly bear.
A “superstructure” that has grown on the ocean floor of the Pacific Ocean since the age of dinosaurs
The Pacific submarine plateau, larger than the state of Idaho, first began to form during volcanic eruptions in B.C. Cretaceous period (145 to 66 million years ago) and continues to grow today.
In fact, the Melanesian border plateau located to the east of the Solomon Islands is formed by four separate pulses of volcanic activityThey all have different root causes, according to new research. Because the South Pacific has many hotspots, other seamounts may have formed over time in similarly complex ways.
This week’s Earth News: 23-million-year-old petrified mangrove forest discovered in secluded location in Panama
Hayabusa’s human remains will not reach the moon
American private company Astrobotic Technology We launched the Peregrine spacecraft this week., aims to become the first commercial aircraft to perform a controlled landing on the moon. The spacecraft was loaded with equipment to measure the state of the lunar surface. Controversially, human remains were also included..
Six hours after Peregrine’s first flight, engineers reported a technical “anomaly” that was later determined to be caused by a propellant leak, ending the mission. ‘No chance’ of soft landing On the moon.
Also in this week’s space news: NASA’s Parker Solar Probe prepares for record-breaking encounter with the Sun
2,000-year-old bullet engraved with Julius Caesar’s name discovered
An almond-shaped lead bullet with the name engraved on it was discovered. Julius Caesar — Likely fired from a slingshot — by indigenous peoples of Spain. supported the cause of a would-be dictator More than 2,000 years ago, during an ultimately successful civil war.
This artifact is known to experts as a “glans stamp,” or stamped bullet. It measures 1.8 by 0.8 inches (4.5 by 2 centimeters), weighs 2.5 ounces (71 grams), and was made using a mold filled with molten lead.
In archeology news: Lasers reveal ancient settlements hidden deep in the Amazon rainforest
Most of the extinct “super carnivorous” grizzly bears were vegetarians.
extinct california grizzly bear They were not giant, bloodthirsty “hypercarnivores” created by humans, a new study has found.
There were once many grizzly bears, Most were vegetarian After European settlers and American settlers began farming in California, they only occasionally turned to livestock. Contrary to popular belief at the time, these grizzly bears did not grow to enormous size, rarely, if ever, reaching the proverbial 2,000 pounds (900 kilograms). did.
Related news this week: First polar bear death due to bird flu poses major problem for the species
‘Mini brain’ grown from fetal brain tissue
The first scientist to grow up cerebral organoid — 3D, lab-grown “mini-brain” — from human fetal brain tissue.
of new organoids It contained many types of cells that grew to the size of a grain of rice and self-assembled into complex 3D structures. The researchers also caused brain tumors to grow inside the minibrains and tested the tumors’ response to existing cancer drugs.
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This week’s photo
Thousands of sardines (possibly in the millions) recently washed ashore on a Philippine island. Small dead fish covered the shore, turning the coastline silvery.. Local experts say a phenomenon known as “upwelling” is likely the cause of the unusual mass stranding.
The disoriented fish began stranding on the coastline around Maasim City on the southern tip of Mindanao early Sunday (January 7).Photos and videos taken by residents throughout the evening show Large schools of shiny sardines are scattered on the beach Then I was washed away by the waves as I was swept ashore.
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In the twilight of the Cretaceous period 86 million years ago, the volcanic fissures of what is now South Africa roared to life. Beneath the Earth’s surface, magma from hundreds of miles below shoots upwards as fast as a car on the autobahn, and if that car breaks through solid rock, it chews through rock and minerals and sends it back to the surface in an avalanche. I carried it towards.
What this looked like on the surface is lost to history, but it may have been as dramatic as the eruption of Mount Vesuvius. What was left behind was a series of tubes filled with carrot-shaped igneous rock beneath a weathered white hill, and a diamond.
Such formations are scattered around the world, from Ukraine to Siberia to Western Australia, but they are relatively small and rare. We are only now beginning to discover that there is more to these “kimberlites” than gemstones. There is an interesting connection between diamond-spewing eruptions and the destruction of supercontinents.