A recent study on fossilized dinosaur fecal matter revealed an interesting truth about them, which contradicts the previous theory on the diet of herbivorous specimens. As their name says, scientists thought they fed exclusively on plants. However, the traces found in these fossils revealed they sometimes ate some meat.

Crustacean traces were hidden in fecal fossils

Researchers discovered some 75 million years old fecal fossils belonging to hadrosaurs, a species of dinosaurs well-known for being herbivorous. However, the analysis of these fossils revealed this species didn’t always choose plants for dinner. They found traces of crustaceans in the fecal matter, together with particles of wood coming from coniferous trees.

However, these were not the only fossil samples containing traces of crustacean shells. Some other coprolites, which are actually remains of dinosaur droppings, contained the same traces, and these remains were present in the Kaiparowits Plateau, Utah. This area was a favorite for hadrosaurs, so they might have occasionally cheated on their plant-only diet.

The bone and teeth structure of these hadrosaurs was typical of animals living closer to fresh water. There, their preferred meal included conifers and fern. The Kaiparowits Plateau was rich in sources of fresh water, as well as conifers and other similar plants, so it quickly became the ideal area where hadrosaurs could live.

Crustaceans were a sure source of proteins for the reproductive periods

Researchers revealed these dinosaurs chose to eat wood and crustaceans during the periods of reproduction. Such food was a good source of calcium, and improved their protein levels when they most needed them. The decaying wood contained plenty of small insects and creatures, which are a valuable source of protein, while crustaceans provide many other nutrients.

In fact, more herbivorous dinosaurs fed on unusual food for them, such as crustaceans, during reproductive periods. These creatures are a sure source of proteins for tough times, and easy to catch for dinosaurs which weren’t used to hunting. The study on hadrosaurs was published in the journal Scientific Reports.
Image Source: Wikimedia Commons

A recent study points to the fact that Antarctica might be inhabited by even more life forms than initially believed. The research team behind it discovered an ‘extensive’ cave system on the cold continent, one located in the vicinity of its volcanoes.

A closer look revealed that these are seemingly warmer than might be believed. In turns, this also allows the possible existence of both plant and animal life forms, some of them possibly being entirely new ones.

Antarctica Cave System Revealed to be a Treasure Trove of Data

According to the research paper, the network of active subsurface volcanoes which have been venting steam seems to have carved out an “extensive and interconnected” network of subglacial caves. After analyzing this system, the scientists determined that this can actually be considered hospitable to both macroscopic and microscopic creatures.

Warmed by the internal heat of the planet, this Antarctica cave system is considered a “geothermal area”.

“If geothermal environments in Antarctica, including subglacial geothermal caves, could indeed have housed invertebrates and plants during past glacial periods, we hypothesize that diverse species should also live in these environments today,” state the researchers.

They also point out that such regions could often be “tens of degrees warmer” than the temperatures of the outside air. This network of caves might also foster liquid water as well as light in areas with thinner overlying ice.

The study team took samples from the subglacial caves and volcanoes that created them. This revealed the presence of DNA traces from algae, moss, arthropods, and roundworms. These were detected both in the subsurface and exposed areas.

However, some of the collected samples did not resemble any known creatures. So the scientists suspect the possible existence of still unidentified creatures, macro, and microscopic ones. These might have lived there in the past or might still be alive now, as well.

Presently, the research team has yet to discover any live organisms in this Antarctica cave system. However, they plan on conducting more extensive research.

Current study findings were released in a paper in the journal Polar Biology.

Iamge Source: FreeGreatPicture

A ketogenic diet containing more fat, low proteins, and fewer carbohydrates prolongs life, improves health, provides physical strength and enhances mental coordination, show the reports on two new studies published in the September 2017 Cell Metabolism issue.

Researchers Studies the Effects of the Ketogenic Diet on Old Mice

Drs. John Newman and Eric Verdin led one study in Novato, California at the Buck Institute for Research on Aging. The California-based researchers looked into the effects of keto diets on aging mice. Their experiments concluded that Ketogenic Diet Reduces Midlife Mortality and Improves Memory in Aging Mice.

Dr. John Ramsey led another study at the Davis School of Veterinary Medicine, the University of California, to establish the impact keto diet creates in aging mice. The Dr. Ramsey-led research discovered two new benefits of the ketogenic diet-improvement of physical strength and high level of mental alertness. A Ketogenic Diet Extends Longevity and Healthspan in Adult Mice showed similar results as the other study.

What is a Ketogenic Diet?

Keto diets have low-carbs, low proteins, and high-fat ingredients. In the two studies, researchers had ketogenic, high-fat, carbohydrate, and control diets. The researchers noted that when the body lives on low-carb intake, there is a shift to the use of ketones, instead of glucose, as the energy source.

High-fat, Low Carbs and a Prolonged Lifespan

The study of the factors that promote longevity started after researchers noted that some people live for more than 80 years and up to over 100 years. Dr. Ramsey, for example, has a 20 year-long particular interest in the mechanics of aging, old age diseases, and the illnesses that affect humans and rodents as age progresses.

Also of interest to Dr. Ramsey is the link between calorie restriction, high-fat diet, and aging. According to Cell Metabolism, the two new studies show that keto diets can help to achieve a 13% median life in humans, which is equivalent to 7-10 years in humans. The research has findings that can help to maintain cognitive ability and long lives.

The discovery of the TRAPPIST-1 system and its seven Earth-like planets raised a lot of interest after being revealed at the start of the year. As scientists are still looking to determine which, if any, of these planets, might be hospitable or present signs of life, a team of researchers is looking at another element.

Carnegie Institution for Science researchers are behind a new study which questions and proposes the existence of gas giant planets somewhere on the outskirts of the TRAPPIST-1 system.

Gas Giant Planets to Reveal New Data About Our Own

Presently, the scientific community is aware of there being only seven planets in the newly discovered TRAPPIST-1 system. The existence of the ultra-cool dwarf star at its center was spotted and revealed by the NASA Spitzer Space Telescope.

Now, this new study proposes the existence of another set of planets besides the seven, Earth-like ones that are already known. The research team suggests that these other planets, gas giant such as Jupiter or Saturn, are situated much further away from their star parent.

“A number of other star systems that include Earth-sized planets and super-Earths are also home to at least one gas giant,” states Alan Boss, the first author of the paper.

Together with his colleagues, Boss used the CAPSCam (the Carnegie Astrometric Planet Search Camera) to determine the upper limits of the mass of any potential gas giant planets in this system.

The research team considers that, by finding gas giants in the TRAPPIST-1 system, scientists could maybe solve one of the mysteries of our own galaxy. Namely, it might help determine how these giant planets came to form.

One theory goes back to the early days of the Sun when this was surrounded by a disk of dust and gas. The Earth and terrestrial-like planets are believed to have been formed by the slow accretion of the disk’s rocky material.

Gas giants might have had a similar start. But they might have also gathered enough materials to gravitationally attract a large mass of the surrounding gas.

Both this theory and the newly advanced idea have some still unexplained elements. The researchers are hoping could be explained by the presence of the vehiculated gas giant planets.

The test results and research findings are presented in a paper released in The Astronomical Journal.

Image Source: JPL/NASA

In one of its recent posts, NASA revealed that the Red Planet could to have a wintery feel. Namely, the aerospace agency released images of snowy dunes of Mars, as snow and ice covered its surface formations.

According to the post through which NASA published the pictures, these images were taken on May 21, 2017. At the time, it was spring in the Northern Hemisphere of Mars. NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter snapped the photos with its HiRISE or High-Resolution Imaging Science Experiment camera.

Snowy Dunes on Mars, Also Predicted by an Experiment

In the image description, NASA explains that snow and ice “inexorably” covered the dunes during the winter time. It also points out that the ice and snow on Mars are quite different from those here on Earth.

Instead of being frozen water, these are based on carbon dioxide, or as it is more commonly known, dry ice.

According to the report, the ‘smooth’ surface of the snowy dunes starts cracking as the sun starts shining on them come springtime. As the dunes crack, this also reportedly releases gas which carries dark sand from the dunes down below. This states NASA, “often creates beautiful patterns”.

However, some of the frost remains trapped behind small and sheltered ridges on the rough surface among the dunes.

A team of scientists also released a new study in which it presents the results of its new simulations. These explore the effects of the ‘flip-flopping’ layers in the atmosphere on Mars. According to the simulations, these combine in a more ‘vigorous’ manner than expected, which produces stormy weather.

In turn, this can also lead to a dusting of snow settling on the dunes of Mars. These snowfalls were seemingly quite insubstantial, some of them not even reaching the surface, and can happen in bursts during the summertime.

Details on the study and its results can be accessed in a paper in the journal Nature Geoscience.

 Image Source: JPL/NASA

Researchers working with the Antarctic Heritage Trust recently discovered a fruitcake in Antarctica’s oldest hut in Cape Adare. The fruitcake was still wrapped in paper and encased in a badly damaged tin.

The Artifact is Still Edible

According to the researchers from the Antarctic Heritage Trust, the fruitcake was made by Huntley & Palmers and it was likely brought to Antarctica by British Explorer Robert Falcon Scott. The expedition took place from 1910 to 1913 and the party of explorers must have sought shelter into the hut. The hut itself was built in 1899. Unfortunately, all the members of the party died on their way back to the base.

Lizzie Meek, the conservation manager for the artifacts, notes that the fruitcake was a favorite item of the English society at the beginning of the 20th century. She added:

It’s an ideal high-energy food for Antarctic conditions, and is still a favorite item on modern trips to the Ice.

In addition, the Antarctic Heritage Trust wrote in their statement that the fruitcake looks and smells edible.

The trust’s conservation program in the Antarctic region ended in July. The team managed to conserve 1,500 artifacts by removing rust and preserving the metals. This is all in an effort to drive tourism in Antarctica which is already highly in demand. Scientists reconditioned several other huts in order to tell the entire story of the age of exploration.

The Antarctic region itself is currently in danger over warnings regarding climate change. The recent calving of the Larsen C ice shelf resulted in a massive iceberg the size of Delaware which now floats into the ocean. Scientists detected the crack in the ice shelf decades ago but it seemed to have accelerated during recent years. Scientists are still debating whether this was indeed due to climate change.

An international team of scientists identified what are most likely the first ever gliding mammals, and these seem to have lived alongside dinosaurs.

A pair of fossils discovered in northeastern China, in the Tiaojishan Formation, revealed new details about the ancestors of all modern-day mammals. They show that, some 140 million years ago, if not more, these were soaring through the skies.

Exceptionally Well-Preserved Fossils of Gliding Mammals From the Jurassic

The team of paleontologists took a closer look at the two discovered fossils, which are now at the Beijing Museum of Natural History. These specimens were determined to be a Maiopatagium furculiferum and a Vilevolodon diplomylos.

The Maiopatagium, which translates to “mother of wings” was the biggest of the two, but still came to just around nine inches in length and some 4 to 6 ounces in weight. Vilevolodon or the “gliding mammal” was even smaller, being just three inches long and weighing some one to two ounces.

These two gliding mammals are haramiyidans or a branch of mammaliaforms that were herbivores and which went extinct some 40 million years ago. Mammaliaformes are held as being the ancient ancestors of all modern-day mammals.

Both of the analyzed fossils were exceptionally preserved as they still clearly presented membranes. These were noted to have connected their front to back limbs.

Skeletal features in both the forelimbs and the shoulder joints suggested that the animals were agile enough as to use the connected membranes for gliding. Their digits also suggested that they could have been used for gripping onto branches, much like the present-day bats.

Examples of Amazing Evolutionary Process

These are just some of the data that suggested that these two animals were well adapted for an aerial locomotion. Both of the species lived during the Mesozoic Era, in the Jurassic period, which makes them contemporaries of some of the dinosaurs.

The Maiopatagium and Vilevolodon were both dated as being at least 140 million years old, which makes them the earliest gliding mammals discovered until now.

“It’s amazing that the aerial adaptions occurred so early in the history of mammals,” stated David Grossnickle, a researcher part of the study and the University of Chicago.

“The groundwork for mammals’ successful diversification today appears to have been laid long ago,” stated another study member, Zhe-Xi Luo.

Research results and further details are available in the journal Nature.

Image Source: Wikimedia

Scientists detected a Jot Jupiter or a giant exoplanet similar to our own gas giant planet that presents a “glowing” water atmosphere. One that also offers the closest yet evidence of the presence of a stratosphere on an exoplanet.

This particular giant exoplanet was named WASP-121b and is part of the “Hot Jupiter” class. These are all Jupiter-like gas giant planets which are believed to be quite common across the galaxy but which are apparently missing in our own galaxy.

Just as the rest of the space bodies in this class, WASP-121b is both still quite a mystery but also probably insanely hot. So it is quite unlikely that such an exoplanet could be capable of holding or developing life forms.

However, it is presenting a stratosphere could come with significant implications for the rest of the space bodies in the Universe. This 900 light years distant giant exoplanet could be a step forward in determining the chemical and physical conditions making up an alien world.

Giant Exoplanet Has a “Glowing” Atmosphere

NASA Ames Research Centre scientists using the Hubble Space Telescope detected glowing water molecules in the atmosphere of WASP-121b. A spectroscopic analysis revealed that these water molecules were giving off infrared radiation. This happened as they were losing energy because of the heat increase in what must be the exoplanet’s stratosphere.

WASP-121b is estimated to register temperatures of around 4,600 degrees Fahrenheit in its upper atmosphere.

“This result is exciting because it shows that a common trait of most of the atmospheres in our Solar System – a warm stratosphere – also can be found in exoplanet atmospheres,” states Mark Marley, one of the study researchers.

He then continues by pointing out that scientists can now compare the atmospheric process registered on an exoplanet to those taking place, under different conditions, in our Solar System.

Future research will be looking to find out more about the mysterious Hot Jupiters. They will also be trying to precisely determine what chemicals in their atmosphere are absorbing so much starlight.

Current study results were published in the journal Nature.

Image Source: JPL/NASA

According to a new study, the Milky Way, our Earth, the Sun, and everything in between or around them could be made out of extragalactic matter. More simply put, it could be composed of star material from outside our galaxy.

Northwestern University astrophysicists are behind this new study. According to them, they created a “first of its kind analysis”. This shows that the Milky Way’s origins may be more far flung and less locally created than initially believed.

Extragalactic Matter, the Source Material for Many Galaxies?

The study team used supercomputer simulations to track and analyze how matter moved around the Universe over time. They called this process “intergalactic transfer”. These 3D simulation models tracked the generated galaxies from their early days following the Big Bang, up to the present day.

The simulation points out that collapsing supernovae can eject enormous quantities of gas from their galaxies. In turn, this transforms the atoms from their stars to farther away places, helping them from one galaxy to another.

“It is likely that much of the Milky Way’s matter was in other galaxies before it was kicked out by a powerful wind, traveled across intergalactic space and eventually found its new home in the Milky Way,” states Daniel Anglés-Alcázar.

He is the lead author and a Northwestern University postdoctoral fellow at the Center for Interdisciplinary Exploration and Research in Astrophysics (CIERA).

Anglés-Alcázar continues by stating that, together with his colleagues, they determined that possibly a half of the matter in the Milky Way might have come from other galaxies. Perhaps even very distant ones.

Anglés-Alcázar states that, given the significant amount of extragalactic matter in the Milky Way, people could consider themselves “space travelers”.

Now, the study team reports that they will be looking to test their simulations and result with real data. One collected by Earth-based observatories and also space telescopes.

A research paper with the current study results is available in the journal Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society.

Image Source: Wikimedia

A team of scientists announced that they created a new, soft, vine-like and growing robot. This snake-like creation is capable of twisting and extending, and its capacities could be more useful than believed.

The research team was inspired, for its creation, by organisms that cover longer distances by growing. For example, they drew inspiration from vines or nerve cells. The resulting tentacular prototype could come to represent a new type of soft robotics. One that will also be capable of moving in ways that others can’t even dream of.

Stanford University researchers are behind this new creation. According to their study paper, the prototype works thanks to the principle of ‘eversion’. Basically, the robot’s body is folded within itself, so to move, it has to unfurl its plastic ‘innards’.

The Vine-Like and Growing Robot is Still in the Prototype Stage

“Essentially, we’re trying to understand the fundamentals of this new approach to getting mobility or movement out of a mechanism,” states Allison Okamura, a mechanical engineer part of the study.

Okamura also points out that this is a different way of locomotion from humans and most creatures.

The growing robot will basically “regurgitate” itself. Its front tip will be continuously new, as it will present the most recently released skin. This robotic creation’s body will lengthen as the end material will extend.

When fully unfolded, it will reach a length of 236 feet. It is also capable of achieving a pretty impressive speed of 21.7 mph.

The team, however, will not be focusing on its moving speed. Instead, it is looking to develop a robot that can move through challenging environments such as twisted, rocky, areas.

The available prototype is filled with air and powered by pneumatic air pressure. However, the research team considers that it could come to be made out of tougher materials, such as Kevlar, for example.

In turn, this might make it fillable with other materials as well. The team believes that it might come to contain water, which it could then transport to victims trapped under rubble or in other emergency situations.

Thanks to its inflatable nature, the robot could also come to be used in lifting heavy objects out of the way. These are also just a number of its vehiculated, future applications, which the scientists are now striving to achieve.

A paper in the journal Science Robotics offers further details on this growing robot.

Image Source: Wikimedia