ScienceDaily: Quirky - July 10, 2024
Top quirky research news
Found with Webb: A potentially habitable icy world
A international team of astronomers has made an exciting discovery about the temperate exoplanet LHS 1140 b: it could be a promising 'super-Earth' covered in ice or water.
First local extinction in the US due to sea level rise, study suggests
The United States has lost its only stand of the massive Key Largo tree cactus in what researchers believe is the first local extinction of a species caused by sea level rise in the country.
Groundbreaking study reveals oceanic seabirds chase tropical cyclones
A new study reveals that the rare Desertas Petrels (Pterodroma deserta), a wide-ranging seabird in the North Atlantic, exhibit unique foraging behaviors during hurricane season. Contrary to other pelagic seabirds, these petrels do not avoid intense tropical cyclones but instead exploit the dynamic conditions for their benefit, providing new insights into the impact of cyclones on open ocean marine life.
Image: Traveller MG/Shutterstock.com
Ancient large kangaroo moved mainly on four legs, according to new research
A type of extinct kangaroo that lived during the Pleistocene around two and a half million to ten thousand years ago, known as the 'giant wallaby', was a poor hopper, a study has found.
Life underground suited newly discovered dinosaur fine
A newly discovered ancestor of Thescelosaurus shows evidence that these animals spent at least part of their time in underground burrows. The new species contributes to a fuller understanding of life during the mid-Cretaceous -- both above and below ground.
It takes a cool microscope and antifreeze to really look at ice
Ice in nature is surrounded by liquid most of the time, and therefore it is key to understand how ice and liquid interact. A new study has now directly observe the precise shape of ice at the interface between ice and liquid -- by using antifreeze and a refrigerated microscope.
Stench of a gas giant? Nearby exoplanet reeks of rotten eggs, and that's a good thing
An exoplanet infamous for its deadly weather has been hiding another bizarre feature -- it reeks of rotten eggs, according to a new study of data from the James Webb Space Telescope.
Fresh wind blows from historical supernova
A mysterious remnant from a rare type of supernova recorded in 1181 has been explained for the first time. Two white dwarf stars collided, creating a temporary 'guest star,' now labeled supernova (SN) 1181, which was recorded in historical documents in Japan and elsewhere in Asia. However, after the star dimmed, its location and structure remained a mystery until a team pinpointed its location in 2021. Now, through computer modeling and observational analysis, researchers have recreated the structure of the remnant white dwarf, a rare occurrence, explaining its double shock formation. They also discovered that high-speed stellar winds may have started blowing from its surface within just the past 20-30 years. This finding improves our understanding of the diversity of supernova explosions, and highlights the benefits of interdisciplinary research, combining history with modern astronomy to enable new discoveries about our galaxy.
Moon 'swirls' could be magnetized by unseen magmas
Mysterious, light-colored swirls on Moon's surface could be rocks magnetized by magma activity underground, laboratory experiments confirm.
Blue and great tits deploy surprisingly powerful memories to find food
Blue and great tits recall what they have eaten in the past, where they found the food and when they found it, a new study shows. In the first experiment of its kind to involve wild animals, blue and great tits demonstrated 'episodic-like' memory to cope with changes in food availability when foraging. The same study may suggest that humans leaving out seeds and nuts for garden birds could be contributing to the evolution of these memory traits.
Giant salamander-like creature was a top predator in the ice age before the dinosaurs
Meet Gaiasia jennyae, the swamp creature with a toilet seat-shaped head. It lived 40 million years before the first dinosaurs, and it was the top predator in its ecosystem.
Clever clothes! Seams in clothing capture body movement
Everyday clothing may soon be able to capture and record body movements according to new research.
Two new species of Psilocybe mushrooms discovered in southern Africa
In a new paper, researchers and citizen mycologists describe the two new species as Psilocybe ingeli and Psilocybe maluti. The paper also contains information on the traditional use of P. maluti by Basotho traditional healers from the mountain kingdom of Lesotho. According to the researchers, this appears to be the only recorded first-hand report of hallucinogenic mushrooms being used traditionally in Africa.