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.
As Earth Day approaches and the Wonder Theory newsletter celebrates three years since arriving in your inboxes, I look to the future with hope.
We all start somewhere. Encouraging and acquiring knowledge helps us grow. When Jane Goodall was a little girl, her mother nurtured the famous primatologist’s love for the living.
At 90 years old, Goodall cultivates the same respect through her Roots & Shoots program, which empowers young people to create change within their communities around the globe.
Even as the world changes in response to the climate crisis, Goodall remains optimistic that humanity can save the planet.
“Don’t forget that you as an individual impact the environment every day,” Goodall told CNN recently. “And it’s up to you to choose what kind of influence you play.”
Secrets of the sea
In May 2020, Ruby Reynolds, who was 11 years old at the time, and her father, Justin, were searching for fossils on a Somerset beach along the English coast when they saw something unusual.
Now being reunited with the help of experts, the fossils Ruby found revealed the jawbone of a giant ichthyosaur that roamed the seas 202 million years ago. And when it reached enormous size, the marine reptile probably rivaled the blue whale, currently the largest living animal.
“It was really cool to find part of this huge ichthyosaur. I am very proud to participate in a scientific discovery like this,” she said.
Meanwhile in India, paleontologists at the Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee have uncovered evidence of a different giant reptile: a prehistoric snake that was longer than a school bus.
Long long ago
Archaeologists have discovered burnt remains inside an ancient Mayan pyramid in Guatemala.
The research team discovered the scorched bones of four adults, as well as luxurious decorations and weapons, in a room below a temple, leading them to believe that the people were of royal descent.
A new type of leader likely emerged during a period of political and societal change for the Maya, and the bones were deliberately burned as a sign of contempt, the team said.
Separately, two 5,500-year-old skeletons found at an archaeological site in southwestern France belonged to women who were likely buried alive in a sacrificial rite using an Italian Mafia-like form of torture.
Other life
For the first time, astronomers have discovered a rainbow-like effect known as halos on planets outside our solar system.
Scientists using the Cheops space telescope noticed an unexpected glow in the atmosphere of WASP-76b. An artist’s illustration shows the phenomenon, seen as colorful, concentric rings of light that have only ever been observed on Earth and Venus.
The blazing-hot exoplanet, located 637 light-years away, is also interesting because it has one side that always faces a sun-like star, causing molten iron to rain down from its clouds.
In another study, scientists discovered that an ancient cataclysmic collision with another planet created the bright, bright core seen on Pluto’s surface.
Around the globe
An unusual disturbance of a star has led astronomers to what they call a cosmic “sleeping giant” in the Milky Way.
The Gaia space telescope has discovered the largest known stellar black hole, or black hole formed by the collapse of a giant star, in our galaxy.
Called Gaia BH3, the celestial heavyweight has a mass nearly 33 times that of our sun, and is just 1,926 light-years away.
Amazing creatures
When scientists accidentally submerged a specific type of winter bumblebee in the water, they made a surprising discovery: The queen of the common eastern bumblebee can survive underwater for up to a week.
The queens, who come alone during the cold season after the death of male bees and worker bees, may enter a state of suspended growth called diapause, which helps them survive.
Meanwhile, with billions of cicadas set to emerge this spring after spending more than a decade underground, scientists are hoping a zombifying fungus will manipulate some of the bugs.
The pathogen transforms the cicadas into “salt liberators of death,” as Dr. Matt Kasson, associate professor at West Virginia University, described it.
Explorations
Take a closer look at these surprising stories:
— Budget cuts jeopardize the program that could receive rare samples from Mars collected by the Perseverance rover. Now, NASA is looking for creative ways to bring them back to Earth.
— Excavations in southern Australia have revealed three new species of giant kangaroos that lived millions of years ago, and one of them was about twice the size of the largest kangaroo alive today.
– NASA expected garbage that it released from the International Space Station to burn in the Earth’s atmosphere, but a piece of space junk survived the fiery re-entry process and entered a house in Naples, Florida.
— Camels roamed what is now Canada, but they crossed the Bering land bridge 17,000 years ago and were completely repurposed to live in the desert — and humans can learn from their transformation.
Like what you’ve read? Oh, but there is more. Register here to get the next issue of Wonder Theory in your inbox, brought to you by the writers of CNN Space and Science Ashley Strickland and Katie Hunt. They discover the wonders of planets outside our solar system and discoveries from the ancient world.
For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com
