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Dinosaur means “terrible lizard.” The idea that the prehistoric creatures were scaly, sluggish reptiles with sprawling postures that dragged their tails through tropical swamps is deeply imprinted in the collective imagination.
However, science now has a newer understanding of the diversity of dinosaur physiology. Many dinosaurs had brightly colored feathers like birds. Dinos lived in many different ecosystems, including the Arctic, where they would have encountered snow (if not today’s ice caps) and winters without light.
New research this week is adding new details to one of paleontology’s biggest questions: Did dinosaur blood run warm or cold?
Dino-mite
It is difficult to find evidence that shows without doubt what the metabolism of dinosaurs was like. Clues from eggshells and fossilized bones now suggest that some dinosaurs were warm-blooded and others were not.
Finding the answer is important because it sheds light on dinosaur behavior. Warm-blooded animals, such as mammals and birds, are more active than their cold-blooded counterparts.
A new study, based on fossils from 1,000 dinosaur species and paleoclimate information, found that the three main groups of dinosaurs were differently adapted, with two of the groups evolving the ability to regulate body temperature early on. in the Jurassic Period about 180 million years ago.
The research suggested that meat-eating theropods, including T. rex, and plant-eating ornithischians, such as Triceratops and Stegosaurus, spread to live in cooler climates during the early Jurassic Period, suggesting that they have evolved the ability to generate a body. heat internally.
Long long ago
Researchers have mapped a 40-mile-long obliterated section of the Nile River through satellite radar imaging and sediment analysis.
The ancient Egyptians erected 31 pyramids, including the Great Pyramid of Giza, on the bank of a branch of the now extinct river, which the builders probably used to transport stone and other building materials.
The discovery, buried deep under farmland and not visible in aerial photographs, could help archaeologists find temples and other Egyptian monuments hidden by fields and desert sands that now cover the river bed.
Trailblazers
In another mapping feat, a 3D model of a cubic millimeter of brain tissue – smaller than a grain of rice – is now available in beautiful detail, thanks to a collaboration between Harvard University researchers and Google.
A team led by Dr. Jeff Lichtman, professor of molecular and cellular biology at Harvard, the sample in thin sections one thousandth of the thickness of a human hair. Despite the tiny size of the fragment, it contained 57,000 cells, 230 millimeters of blood vessels and 150 million synapses.
The color images make the individual components more visible, but are otherwise a true representation of the tissue.
Eventually, the team hopes that looking at the brain in this way could help scientists make sense of unsolved medical conditions like autism.
The climate changed
The patterns of rings in tree trunks — which are influenced by sunlight, rain and temperature — provide a climate history for each year of their life, going back hundreds or even thousands of years.
Tree-ring data from nine regions of the Northern Hemisphere, including North America and Scandinavia, allowed scientists to reconstruct annual temperatures for Northern Hemisphere summers between the years 1 and 1849 and compare them to this summer’s temperatures spent
The summer of 2023 was warmer than any other summer during this 2,000-year period, according to the study.
The temperature there was at least 0.5 degrees Celsius (0.9 degrees Fahrenheit) warmer than the hottest summer during the period studied, the year 246 – when the Roman Empire still ruled Europe and civilization Maya rule over Central America.
Amazing creatures
Marine scientists have used artificial intelligence to decode a previously unknown complexity in the calls of sperm whales.
The whales produced a catalog of clicking sounds, which the researchers described as being like a “phonetic alphabet” for sperm whales.
Sperm whales produce clicks by forcing air through an organ in their head called the spermaceti, and these sounds can be as loud as 230 decibels – louder than a rocket launch and capable of tearing human ears.
What sperm whales say with their clicks is a mystery to human ears, but understanding the scope of their vocal exchanges is an important step in linking their calls to specific behavior.
The surprise
Kick back with these remarkable reads.
— Astronomers have spotted an unusual giant planet as fluffy as cotton candy about 1,200 light years from Earth.
— Scientists have solved the mystery of South America’s giant humps – with the help of a tiny backpack.
– Meet the herpeologist trying to save people in India from the dangers of snakebites.
— Etchings found on the door of a castle in Dover, England, may include graffiti of Napoleon Bonaparte hanging, according to English Heritage.
And before you go, here’s a Starliner update: The much-anticipated first crewed mission of Boeing’s new spacecraft has been delayed again.
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