by Editor’s Note: A version of this story appeared in CNN’s Wonder Theory science newsletter. To get it in your inbox, register for free here.
There are constant reminders in our daily environment of the many chapters of life that have evolved on Earth.
Rocks and dirt preserve evidence of the times before ours, such as the oldest fossilized forest on the planet where unusual trees grew 390 million years ago.
Fossils reveal the diversity of life that has flourished and died out over thousands of years, and graves tell the stories of people who lived through unimaginable hardships hundreds of years ago.
The only constant about life on Earth is that it is constantly changing. Even scientists cannot agree on whether or not a new chapter of Earth’s history has begun.
Although it seems impossible to bring extinct creatures back to life, scientists are making breakthroughs that could enable a comeback, perhaps not so far away here.
Back to the future
An ambitious plan to genetically engineer a woolly mammal – a giant that hasn’t roamed the Earth for 4,000 years – has taken another step towards reality.
Colossal Biosciences, a Dallas-based company aiming to create a giant hybrid exactly like its extinct counterpart, has reprogrammed cells from an Asian elephant. The species is the closest living relative to the woolly mammal.
The now modified cells could eventually be used to help the hybrid mammoth grow a woolly coat and develop other characteristics needed to survive in the Arctic.
The company believes that the woolly mummy’s resurrection could possibly help bring back the fragile Arctic tundra, which is at risk as the world warms.
Around the globe
The far-infrared view of the James Webb Space Telescope has caught a glimpse of a mysterious galaxy that existed when the universe was only 700 million years old – in its infancy, astronomically speaking.
The discovery surprised scientists, who discovered that it was the oldest “dead” galaxy ever seen, and it stopped forming stars almost as soon as star birth began in the universe.
Violent interactions between stars or black holes can strip galaxies of the gas needed to form stars, but so far, no theories explain exactly what happened in this distant galaxy.
Inquiries
Bread and cheese are among the best culinary pairings, but maybe not when the bread in question is 8,600 years old and the cheese is famous for its pungent smell.
Archaeologists discovered a palm-sized spongy residue at an ancient oven structure in Turkey and determined it to be an uncooked batch of fermented bread made in 6600 BC. it, making it the oldest loaf of bread in the world.
Meanwhile, France’s favorite Camembert cheese may be in crisis.
The fungus used during the cheese-making process, which gives Camembert both its distinctive smell and rich taste, is scarce, leading connoisseurs to worry that Camembert’s days are numbered.
Amazing creatures
It would have been a common sight to walk through the forests of Earth 120 million years ago among a landscape dominated by dinosaurs: birds. Well, that is, until the feathered creatures opened their beaks to reveal rows of teeth.
Back then, birds used to have teeth. But researchers have found a fossil of a newly discovered species, called “Attenborough’s strange bird” in honor of the British naturalist Sir David Attenborough, which was surprising because it was toothless.
The discovery of the robin-like bird is changing the way scientists think about the complex story of avian evolution.
Separately, an eagle-eyed amateur paleontologist happened to be out for a walk with his bone-exposing dog that led to the discovery of an almost complete titanosaur skeleton joined from head to tail.
Long long ago
Scientists used a unique celestial method to determine that there were ancient people in Europe 1.4 million years ago.
Radioactive particles locked inside the mineral grains were analyzed on pebbles buried within a quarry in the Ukraine together with stone tools found below layers of earth.
In the distant past, when the rocks were still at the surface, cosmic rays, or charged particles that travel across the universe and land on Earth, penetrated the stone, creating the markers radioactive that helps researchers determine how far the archaeological layer was placed. .
The newly dated artefacts are the earliest evidence of hominins in Europe. The team is still trying to determine exactly which early human species made the tools, but the results of the study have provided clues.
Explorations
Grab a cup of coffee and catch up with these interesting reads:
— Star dunes rise like pyramids on the tallest features in Earth’s deserts, and researchers have found evidence that the distinctive mounds began to form thousands of years ago.
— A 13-year-old may have the code for how the fabled “death ray” of the ancient Greek inventor Archimedes could harness sunlight to burn ships.
— Did you see the 2017 total solar eclipse? Expect this year’s eclipse on April 8 to be different in several important ways, including the duration and visibility of the celestial event.
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