Scientists Discover Two ‘Alien’ Minerals In Meteorite

<p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhS5yzJ8AcjOkNPnF4vaNWBym6TDp9m-H_pOMFX5eDCSX2Gre73YO9cv4qGR3_blL5e4rjrGw6c8cjCajqP2GQUGyWJN8sGkiRRPJsrgRFSx8kYSy8GvlWb0l4-ClWvMRMaUBxnsJexu1TFwIXqhpAmXCZxcOe1bUL4S_HhuaLOFigRiYLoQaFDXens/s1214/Two%20Minerals%20%E2%80%93%20Never%20Before%20Seen%20on%20Earth%20%E2%80%93%20Discovered%20in%20Massive%20Meteorite%20%20copy%20(1).jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Two Minerals – Never Before Seen on Earth – Discovered in Massive Meteorite" border="0" data-original-height="864" data-original-width="1214" height="456" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhS5yzJ8AcjOkNPnF4vaNWBym6TDp9m-H_pOMFX5eDCSX2Gre73YO9cv4qGR3_blL5e4rjrGw6c8cjCajqP2GQUGyWJN8sGkiRRPJsrgRFSx8kYSy8GvlWb0l4-ClWvMRMaUBxnsJexu1TFwIXqhpAmXCZxcOe1bUL4S_HhuaLOFigRiYLoQaFDXens/w640-h456/Two%20Minerals%20%E2%80%93%20Never%20Before%20Seen%20on%20Earth%20%E2%80%93%20Discovered%20in%20Massive%20Meteorite%20%20copy%20(1).jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A slice of the El Ali meteorite, now housed in the University of Alberta’s Meteorite Collection, contains two minerals never before seen on Earth. Credit: University of Alberta<br /></td></tr></tbody></table> <br /><p></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Two Minerals – Never Before Seen on Earth – Discovered in Massive Meteorite</span><br /></p><p>A team of researchers has discovered at least two new minerals that have never before been seen on Earth in a 15 tonne meteorite found in Somalia — the ninth largest meteorite ever found.<br /><br />“Whenever you find a new mineral, it means that the actual geological conditions, the chemistry of the rock, was different than what’s been found before,” says Chris Herd, a professor in the Department of Earth & Atmospheric Sciences and curator of the University of Alberta’s Meteorite Collection. “That’s what makes this exciting: In this particular meteorite you have two officially described minerals that are new to science.” <br /><br />The two minerals found came from a single 70 gram slice that was sent to the U of A for classification, and there already appears to be a potential third mineral under consideration. If researchers were to obtain more samples from the massive meteorite, there’s a chance that even more might be found, Herd notes.<br /><br />The two newly discovered minerals have been named elaliite and elkinstantonite. The first receives its name from the meteorite itself, dubbed the “El Ali” meteorite because it was found in near the town of El Ali, in the Hiiraan region of Somalia. Herd named the second mineral after Lindy Elkins-Tanton, vice president of the ASU Interplanetary Initiative, professor at Arizona State University’s School of Earth and Space Exploration and principal investigator of NASA’s upcoming Psyche mission. <br /></p><div style="margin: 0px auto; width: 100%;"> <script async="" src="//pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/js/adsbygoogle.js"></script> <ins class="adsbygoogle" data-ad-client="ca-pub-1021498709184325" data-ad-format="fluid" data-ad-layout="in-article" data-ad-slot="6157425841" style="display: block; text-align: center;"></ins> <script> (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); </script> </div><br />“Lindy has done a lot of work on how the cores of planets form, how these iron nickel cores form, and the closest analogue we have are iron meteorites. So it made sense to name a mineral after her and recognize her contributions to science,” Herd explains.<br /><br />In collaboration with researchers at UCLA and the California Institute of Technology, Herd classified the El Ali meteorite as an “Iron, IAB complex” meteorite, one of over 350 in that particular category. <br /><br />As Herd was analyzing the meteorite to classify it, he saw something that caught his attention. He brought in the expertise of Andrew Locock, head of the U of A’s Electron Microprobe Laboratory, who has been involved in other new mineral descriptions including Heamanite-(Ce).<br /><br />“The very first day he did some analyses, he said, ‘You’ve got at least two new minerals in there,’” says Herd. “That was phenomenal. Most of the time it takes a lot more work than that to say there’s a new mineral.” <br /><br />Locock’s rapid identification was possible because the two minerals had been synthetically created before, so he was able to match the composition of the newly discovered natural minerals with their human-made counterparts.<br /><br />Researchers are continuing to examine the minerals to determine what they can tell us about the conditions in the meteorite when it formed. <br /><br />“That’s my expertise — how you tease out the geologic processes and the geologic history of the asteroid this rock was once part of,” says Herd. “I never thought I’d be involved in describing brand new minerals just by virtue of working on a meteorite.”<br /><br />Herd also notes that any new mineral discoveries could possibly yield exciting new uses down the line. <br /><br />“Whenever there’s a new material that’s known, material scientists are interested too because of the potential uses in a wide range of things in society.”<br /><br />While the future of the meteorite remains uncertain, Herd says the researchers have received news that it appears to have been moved to China in search of a potential buyer. It remains to be seen whether additional samples will be available for scientific purposes.<br /><br /> <p></p><p><u><i>The above story is based on <a href="https://www.ualberta.ca/folio/2022/11/new-minerals-discovered-in-massive-meteorite-may-reveal-clues-to-asteroid-formation.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Materials</a> provided by <a href="https://www.ualberta.ca/index.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">University of Alberta.</a></i></u><br /></p>

Scientists Discover Two ‘Alien’ Minerals In Meteorite

A slice of the El Ali meteorite, now housed in the University of Alberta’s Meteorite Collection, contains two minerals never before seen on ...

Read more »

Tiny Bubbles of an Ancient Ocean Found Trapped Inside Rocks in New York

<p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXvIiOgQTIf5XCiLrTytS_S_6FaRWuQ04atnEH3OcqUvOHjAaSa4B5E7fzEaxgl4ldM3jI6Uy-Qj9u0e7qAEyWXjkfKcDw17XN9R5hsJ17yGv1VD0X7-L9FLXzlwTtXGlgVfLROIyri9ptiPz_ZkZJGlRuAZNM1C6Z-XPy0O5ZF_0kPWW3DjrZ17Vp/s1162/Low-Res_COLOR_Hero%20-%20CB7Framboid4%20-%201600x1200_v3%20(1).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Tiny Bubbles of an Ancient Ocean Found Trapped Inside Rocks in New York" border="0" data-original-height="872" data-original-width="1162" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXvIiOgQTIf5XCiLrTytS_S_6FaRWuQ04atnEH3OcqUvOHjAaSa4B5E7fzEaxgl4ldM3jI6Uy-Qj9u0e7qAEyWXjkfKcDw17XN9R5hsJ17yGv1VD0X7-L9FLXzlwTtXGlgVfLROIyri9ptiPz_ZkZJGlRuAZNM1C6Z-XPy0O5ZF_0kPWW3DjrZ17Vp/w640-h480/Low-Res_COLOR_Hero%20-%20CB7Framboid4%20-%201600x1200_v3%20(1).jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ancient seawater pockets trapped in an iron pyrite framboid. (Daniel Gregory, University of Toronto/Cortland Johnson, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory)<br /></td></tr></tbody></table> <br /></p><p>Scientists have found small pockets of seawater that have been trapped in rock for some 390 million years, a discovery that could significantly deepen our understanding of how oceans evolve and adapt to changing climate conditions.<br /></p><p>Trapped for millennia, the tiniest liquid remnants of an ancient inland sea have now been revealed. The surprising discovery of seawater sealed in what is now North America for 390 million years opens up a new avenue for understanding how oceans change and adapt with changing climate.<br /><br />That period in Earth’s history is of great interest to scientists at UC Riverside because of the major changes that occurred then, including one of history’s largest extinctions and possibly the first oxygenation of the deep oceans following billions of years of oxygen-lean conditions.<br /><br />Many types of minerals and gems contain small pockets of trapped liquid. Indeed, some gemstones are prized for their light-catching bubbles of liquid. What’s different in this study is that scientists were able to reveal what was inside the tiniest water pockets, using advanced microscopes and chemical analyses.<br /><br />“We discovered we can actually dig out information from these mineral features that could help inform geologic studies, such as the chemistry of ancient oceans,” said Sandra Taylor, first author of the study and a materials scientist at the Department of Energy’s Pacific Northwest National Laboratory.<br /><br />Taylor worked with laboratory colleagues Daniel Perea, John Cliff, and Libor Kovarik to perform the analyses in collaboration with geochemists Daniel Gregory of the University of Toronto and Timothy Lyons of the UCR Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences. The research team reported their discovery in the new issue of <i>Earth and Planetary Science Letters.</i><br /><br />The team’s findings confirmed that the water trapped inside the rock fit the chemistry profile of an ancient inland saltwater sea that once occupied Upstate New York, where the rock originated.<br /><br />During the so-called Middle Devonian period, this inland sea stretched from present day Michigan to Ontario, Canada. It harbored a coral reef to rival Australia’s Great Barrier Reef. Sea scorpions the size of a pickup truck patrolled waters that harbored now-extinct creatures like trilobites and the earliest examples of horseshoe crabs.<br /><br />Eventually the oceans receded, many of the creatures became extinct, and the sea itself also disappeared, leaving behind only fossil remains embedded in sediments. These fossils became the samples used in the current experiment.<br /><br />Scientists use rock samples to piece together how climate changes over the long span of geologic time.<br /><br />“We use mineral deposits to estimate the temperature of the ancient oceans,” said Gregory, a geologist at the University of Toronto, former UCR postdoctoral student, and one of the study leaders. But there are relatively few examples useful for exploring Earth’s earliest chapters.<br /><br />“Salt deposits from trapped seawater are relatively rare in the rock record, so there are millions of years missing in the records, and what we currently know is based on a few localities where the salt is found,” Gregory said. By contrast, pyrite is found everywhere. “Sampling with this technique could open up millions of years of the geologic record and lead to new understanding of changing climate.”<br /><br />Lyons added “pyrite has offered us a surprisingly large window to Earth’s ancient environments, life, and oceans, and this novel approach may have the greatest potential. It’s exciting to explore the range of possible applications and their implications.”<br /><br />Often referred to as fool’s gold, UCR scientists have been working with pyrite for more than a decade to explore important but elusive details about Earth history and pyrite’s potential impact on the environment today. They proposed the project, assisted in analyses, and provided samples for this study. The discovery of the preserved seawater in the pyrite was an entirely unexpected result.<br /><br />The research team was pursuing another environmental issue—toxic arsenic leaching from rock—when they noticed the tiny defects. Scientists describe the analyzed pyrite grains as framboids—for framboise, the French word for raspberry—because of their raspberry-like appearance under the microscope.<br /><br />“We looked at these samples through the electron microscope first, and we saw mini bubbles or other features within the framboid and wondered what they were,” Taylor said.<br /><br />Using the very sensitive detection techniques of atom probe tomography and mass spectrometry—which can detect minuscule amounts of elements or impurities in minerals—the team worked out that the bubbles indeed contained water, along with salt chemistry matching that from ancient seas.<br /><br />“I can’t wait to see what else we find in pyrite of different ages from around the world,” notes Lyons. This is a completely new way to explore Earth history over millions of years. “Who’s the fool now,” he quips.<br /><br />This research was conducted at the Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory located at PNNL. Lyons and Gregory used the facility through a competitive application process. The research was also supported by grants from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada and NASA.</p><p><br /></p><p><i><u>The above story is based on <a href="https://news.ucr.edu/articles/2022/11/22/tiniest-ever-ancient-seawater-pockets-revealed" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Materials</a> provided by </u></i><u><i>DOE/pacific Northwest National Laboratory.</i></u><br /></p>

Tiny Bubbles of an Ancient Ocean Found Trapped Inside Rocks in New York

Ancient seawater pockets trapped in an iron pyrite framboid. (Daniel Gregory, University of Toronto/Cortland Johnson, Pacific Northwest Nati...

Read more »

Ancient Swamp Was Sex Death Trap for Hundreds of Frogs

<p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGsSCyShoEKUWvoEHHguRrE81ztli3noEK6GIZyTxsuVHIpKge15gClTgvR9n7xpr7bpuCV4tJBuDwZpRTMfPjedvAE7Qk_0cb6IHTXP5V-iS-3GonKkhw_aco7yM_HwSQO7PKehrX3G7TA5c89JXxQQoM8NhelzBeGmbmJwwZ1bQBSNCZ_KBvtcKM/s1215/Ancient%20Swamp%20Was%20Sex%20Death%20Trap%20for%20Hundreds%20of%20Frogs.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Ancient Swamp Was Sex Death Trap for Hundreds of Frogs" border="0" data-original-height="761" data-original-width="1215" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGsSCyShoEKUWvoEHHguRrE81ztli3noEK6GIZyTxsuVHIpKge15gClTgvR9n7xpr7bpuCV4tJBuDwZpRTMfPjedvAE7Qk_0cb6IHTXP5V-iS-3GonKkhw_aco7yM_HwSQO7PKehrX3G7TA5c89JXxQQoM8NhelzBeGmbmJwwZ1bQBSNCZ_KBvtcKM/w640-h400/Ancient%20Swamp%20Was%20Sex%20Death%20Trap%20for%20Hundreds%20of%20Frogs.jpeg" title="Ancient Swamp Was Sex Death Trap for Hundreds of Frogs" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The skeleton of a frog that likely died after mating, and broke in half in water currents. (Photo: D. Falk)<br /><br /></td></tr></tbody></table>If you want to lure a bunch of prehistoric frogs to a sticky end, the best way is the promise of amphibian hanky-panky.<br /><br />That's the conclusion paleontologists have arrived at after studying the remains of hundreds of ancient frogs that died in a swamp around 45 million years ago, in what we now know as Germany.<br /><br />The watery death trap in the Geiseltal area in central Germany claimed the lives of over 50,000 ancient beasts, including birds, horses, bats, fish and hundreds of frogs. Because of its unique geological features and thousands of fossils, the former coalfield of Geiseltal in Saxony-Anhalt, is considered a scientific treasure trove, providing a unique window into how the Earth’s plants and animals evolved over millions of years. <br /><br />Nearly 50 million years ago – the middle Eocene – the Earth was much warmer and the area of Geiseltal was a swampy subtropical forest whose inhabitants included ancestors of the horse, large crocodiles, as well as giant snakes, lizards, ground-dwelling birds and plenty of anurans, which are frogs and toads.<br /><br />Previous studies have suggested that the Geiseltal frogs died during the desiccation of lakes and/or oxygen depletion in the water. But exactly what killed these creatures has long been a mystery – until now.<br /><br />By studying the bones of the fossil frogs, the UCC team was able to narrow down the options. “As far as we can tell, the fossil frogs were healthy when they died, and the bones don’t show any signs of predators or scavengers – there’s also no evidence that they were washed in during floods, or died because the swamp dried up.” said UCC researcher and study leader Daniel Falk. What’s more, most of the Geiseltal fossil frogs are species that spend their lives on land, returning to the water only to breed. “By process of elimination, the only explanation that makes sense is that they died during mating.”<br /><br />This phenomenon is common in frogs today. “Female frogs are at higher risk of drowning as they are often submerged by one or more males – this often happens in species that engage in mating congregations during the short explosive breeding season,” said senior author Professor Maria McNamara. “What’s really interesting is that fossil frogs from other sites also show these features, suggesting that the mating behaviours of modern frogs are really quite ancient and have been in place for at least 45 million years”.</p><p> </p><p><i><u>The above story is based on<a href="https://www.ucc.ie/en/mariamcnamara/news/daniels-new-paper-in-papers-in-palaeontology.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"> Materials</a> provided by <a href="https://www.ucc.ie/en/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">University College Cork (UCC).</a></u></i><br /></p>

Ancient Swamp Was Sex Death Trap for Hundreds of Frogs

The skeleton of a frog that likely died after mating, and broke in half in water currents. (Photo: D. Falk) If you want to lure a bunch of p...

Read more »

Oldest Army Ant Found in 35-Million-Year-Old Baltic Amber

<p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJBbcNJmnpaqg6avNNXjb7gg9ljxNwYWcgGvS2wHgH_AM99a3PDWoVXJF6NudXotzPAZtfz6ZYC2OeBnjdxRnuaAu2jFyHjkEUniD2oZOzVSVDFipmkKZ0NmuCMEQ_LLo2N1zk7SldWWHuGmelck7Hky1F1txKrCMG3I8JlrouB5OMTAFrYHb7hxEw/s1140/Oldest%20Army%20Ant%20Ever.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Oldest Army Ant Found in 35-Million-Year-Old Baltic Amber" border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="1140" height="336" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJBbcNJmnpaqg6avNNXjb7gg9ljxNwYWcgGvS2wHgH_AM99a3PDWoVXJF6NudXotzPAZtfz6ZYC2OeBnjdxRnuaAu2jFyHjkEUniD2oZOzVSVDFipmkKZ0NmuCMEQ_LLo2N1zk7SldWWHuGmelck7Hky1F1txKrCMG3I8JlrouB5OMTAFrYHb7hxEw/w640-h336/Oldest%20Army%20Ant%20Ever.jpg" title="Oldest Army Ant Found in 35-Million-Year-Old Baltic Amber" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Oldest army ant on record. Image Credit: Sosiak et al., Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard University; © President and Fellows of Harvard College<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">The world’s oldest army ant has been identified in a block of 35-million-year-old Baltic amber. The unexpected discovery suggests that the blind, belligerent insects – now common in Africa and South America – once roamed the European continent.</span><br /></p><p style="text-align: left;">Their nomadic lifestyle and ravenous raiding have taken army ants (Dorylinae) to most continents on Earth, but a rare fossil discovery is now offering first evidence that the infamous predators once swarmed a land they are strikingly absent from today -- Europe.<br /><br />In the journal Biology Letters, researchers at New Jersey Institute of Technology and Colorado State University have reported the discovery of the oldest army ant on record, preserved in Baltic amber dating to the Eocene (~35 million years ago).<br /><br />The eyeless specimen Dissimulodorylus perseus (D. perseus) -- named after the mythical Greek hero Perseus who famously defeated Medusa with the limited use of sight -- marks just the second fossil army ant species ever described, and the first army ant fossil recovered from the Eastern Hemisphere.<br /><br />Sized at roughly 3 millimeters in length, researchers say the ant fossil brings to light previously unknown army ant lineages that would have existed across Continental Europe before undergoing extinction in the past 50 million years.<br /><br />Remarkably, the fossil had been kept in obscurity for nearly 100 years in the Museum of Comparative Zoology at Harvard University, before being identified by the paper's lead author and NJIT Ph.D. candidate, Christine Sosiak.<br /><br />"The museum houses hundreds of drawers full of insect fossils, but I happened to come across a tiny specimen labeled as a common type of ant while gathering data for another project," said Sosiak. "Once I put the ant under the microscope, I immediately realized the label was inaccurate … I thought, this is something really different."<br /><br />"This amber would have been excavated around or before the 1930s, so to now learn it contained a rare army ant is surprising enough, much less one that demonstrates these ants roamed Europe," said Phillip Barden, assistant professor of biology at NJIT and senior author of the paper. "From everything we know about army ants living today, there's no hint of such extinct diversity. … With this fossil now out of obscurity, we've gained a rare paleontological porthole into the history of these unique predators."<br /></p><h4 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">A Paleontological Porthole into a Unique Predator's History</span></h4><p style="text-align: left;">Today, there are about 270 army ant species living in the Eastern Hemisphere, and roughly 150 across North and South America.<br /><br />Based on X-ray and CT-scan analysis of the fossil, the NJIT team gathered phylogenetic and morphological data that places D. perseus as a close relative to eyeless species of army ants currently found in Africa and Southern Asia, called Dorylus.<br /><br />"At the time the fossil formed, Europe was hotter and wetter than it is today and may have provided an ideal habitat for ancient army ants," said Barden. "Europe underwent several cooling cycles over tens of millions of years since the Eocene, however, which may have been inhospitable to these tropical-adapted species."<br /><br />The team's analysis further revealed that the ant possessed an enlarged antibiotic gland, typically found in other army ants for sustaining life underground, suggesting the long-lost European army ant lineage was similarly suited to subterranean living.<br /><br />It's a factor Sosiak says makes this fossil, and other fossil army ants, a rarity. Only one definitive fossil had been recorded until now, unearthed from the Caribbean (16 ~Ma.).<br /><br />"This was an incredibly lucky find. Because this ant was probably subterranean like most army ants today, it was much less likely to come into contact with tree resin that forms such fossils," said Sosiak. "We have a very small window into the history of life on our planet, and unusual fossils such as this provide fresh insight."<br /><br />Sosiak says D. perseus' anatomical traits -- including its sharply pointed mandibles and lack of eyes -- help classify the specimen as a worker ant in its colony, which would have been involved in carrying its queen's larvae and raiding for food with soldier ants when it was alive.<br /><br />"Army ant workers participate in raiding swarms, hunting other insects and even vertebrates. Because these army ants are blind, they use chemical communication to stay coordinated with one another to take down large prey," explained Sosiak. "This worker may have strayed too far from its fellow hunters and into sticky tree resin, which eventually solidified and encased the ant as we see it today."<br /><br />Army ants' distinct combination of behavior and traits is so unusual in the ant world, that it's warranted its own name -- army ant syndrome.<br /><br />In contrast with other ant lineages, army ants have wingless queens capable of laying millions of eggs a day, while their nomadic colonies temporarily occupy nests between phases of travel that take the shape of bivouacs, sometimes involving millions of ants stretching for 100m.<br /><br />The carnivores are perhaps best known for their highly coordinated foraging that can involve consuming upwards of 500,000 prey a day.<br /><br />Barden says army ant syndrome is a case of convergent evolution that would have occurred twice -- once in the Neotropics and once in the Afrotropics.<br /><br />"The discovery is the first physical evidence of the army ant syndrome in the Eocene, establishing that hallmarks of these specialized predators were in place even before the ancestors of certain army ants like Dorylus," said Barden.<br /><br />For now, the newly identified fossil joins just eight fossil species within the ant subfamily that army ants belong to, called Dorylinae -- five from Dominican amber (16 ~Ma.), and three species known from Baltic amber (34 ~Ma.).<br /><br /><u><i><span style="font-family: trebuchet;"><span style="font-size: small;"> The above story is based on Materials provided by <a href="https://news.njit.edu/oldest-army-ant-ever-discovered-reveals-iconic-predator-once-raided-europe" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; border-radius: 0px !important; box-sizing: border-box; color: #004276; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;" target="_blank">Materials</a><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; color: #333333; display: inline !important; float: none; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span> </span>provided by<span> </span></span><a href="https://www.njit.edu/" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; border-radius: 0px !important; box-sizing: border-box; color: #004276; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;" target="_blank"><strong style="border-radius: 0px !important; box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: bold;">New Jersey Institute of Technology</strong></a></span></span></i></u><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; color: #333333; display: inline !important; float: none; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><u><i><span style="font-family: trebuchet;"><span style="font-size: small;">. Original written by Jesse Jenkins.</span></span></i></u><span><u><i><span style="font-family: trebuchet;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></i></u><br /></span></span></p>

Oldest Army Ant Found in 35-Million-Year-Old Baltic Amber

Oldest army ant on record. Image Credit: Sosiak et al., Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard University; © President and Fellows of Harvar...

Read more »

Workers Dug Into A Nest Of Dinosaur Eggs 80 Million Years Old

<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6qGqj-e4rSh6SybMDP68X765ti9ln-V1Vq-_zHFhx7wtZBBmofT6LDIaH0E43aLQw3zeKsdbjzHNQbHJkiTpy8VrobsrNndHn1xwW3ES6wtit0mxMeXgyAkyfq4kPjyXX1QvldC38TB4mizwAaHu6C_naNaQAnzfJcNkYxBJUG88LAIrM-DklwJyO/s1390/Workers%20Dug%20Into%20A%20Nest%20Of%20Dinosaur%20Eggs%2080%20Million%20Years%20Old.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Workers Dug Into A Nest Of Dinosaur Eggs 80 Million Years Old" border="0" data-original-height="718" data-original-width="1390" height="330" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6qGqj-e4rSh6SybMDP68X765ti9ln-V1Vq-_zHFhx7wtZBBmofT6LDIaH0E43aLQw3zeKsdbjzHNQbHJkiTpy8VrobsrNndHn1xwW3ES6wtit0mxMeXgyAkyfq4kPjyXX1QvldC38TB4mizwAaHu6C_naNaQAnzfJcNkYxBJUG88LAIrM-DklwJyO/w640-h330/Workers%20Dug%20Into%20A%20Nest%20Of%20Dinosaur%20Eggs%2080%20Million%20Years%20Old.jpg" title="Workers Dug Into A Nest Of Dinosaur Eggs 80 Million Years Old" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Fossilized dinosaur eggs found in Wuning county, East China's Jiangxi Province <br />Photo: Courtesy of Wuning County Museum<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p><b>Many fossils of dinosaur eggs were accidentally found during construction in Wuning county, Jiangxi province, eastern China.</b><br /><br />Fossilized dinosaur eggs of 80 million years old dating back to the early and mid-Late Cretaceous period have been found in East China's Jiangxi Province, which is of great significance for paleontological research during the Late Cretaceous period. They were discovered by a worker driving an excavator, who then reported it to the local authorities.<br /><br />The dinosaur egg fossils discovered this time are preserved in nests, with all three dinosaur eggs are nearly round and well-preserved. In addition to the three dinosaur egg fossils that have not fallen off from the nest, other seven dinosaur egg prints can also be identified on the rock, researchers introduced.<br /><br />According to the microscopic structure of the eggshell, the scientists also identified that these eggs were coral eggs of the family stalagmite, which had appeared in several other places across the country. <br /></p><p></p><p></p><p>The new discovery helps to fill the gap of dinosaur fossils in Jiangxi province and has great significance for the study of paleontology, distribution status and habitat of dinosaurs in the Late Cretaceous. </p><p>Scientists also identified based on the microstructure of the eggshells that these eggs were Stalicoolithidae Coralloidoolithus, which once appeared in the Late Cretaceous strata in East China's Zhejiang Province and Central China's Henan Province. At present, these several dinosaur egg fossils have been collected by the local museum in Jiangxi.<br /></p><p>From a series of discoveries of dinosaur egg fossils in recent years, Chinese scientists have noticed a continuous decline in dinosaur diversity that occurred at the end of the Cretaceous period.<br /><br /></p>

Workers Dug Into A Nest Of Dinosaur Eggs 80 Million Years Old

Fossilized dinosaur eggs found in Wuning county, East China's Jiangxi Province Photo: Courtesy of Wuning County Museum Many fossils of d...

Read more »

Mass Extinctions May Have Been Driven by the Evolution of Tree Roots

<p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgcx4PE0UhKFnmQlSVlIWV_7QQgDUDfpexO3F08UMNzqUkxGLSywo-6Lj5VYWRXrswU2oQW2_ao9oIdc3w_m8xTrjttLbj3vBtShaWyPVug0yUaW0QeCb-FJD4CxkDv5oi0jloKdiQZemdei8YHROj5n9j6SCxuPG2bfMsNTul4yvaBt_xzsVHRhas/s1253/Mass%20Extinctions%20May%20Have%20Been%20Driven%20by%20the%20Evolution%20of%20Tree%20Roots%20(1).jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Mass Extinctions May Have Been Driven by the Evolution of Tree Roots" border="0" data-original-height="1253" data-original-width="1203" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgcx4PE0UhKFnmQlSVlIWV_7QQgDUDfpexO3F08UMNzqUkxGLSywo-6Lj5VYWRXrswU2oQW2_ao9oIdc3w_m8xTrjttLbj3vBtShaWyPVug0yUaW0QeCb-FJD4CxkDv5oi0jloKdiQZemdei8YHROj5n9j6SCxuPG2bfMsNTul4yvaBt_xzsVHRhas/w614-h640/Mass%20Extinctions%20May%20Have%20Been%20Driven%20by%20the%20Evolution%20of%20Tree%20Roots%20(1).jpg" title="Mass Extinctions May Have Been Driven by the Evolution of Tree Roots" width="614" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mass Extinctions May Have Been Driven by the Evolution of Tree Roots. Fossilized tree roots in limestone blocks<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br />A series of mass extinctions that rocked the Earth’s oceans during the Devonian Period over 300 million years ago may have been triggered by the evolution of tree roots. </span><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; color: black; display: inline; float: none; font-family: "pt serif", Georgia, Times, "times new roman", serif; font-size: 17.008px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span><br /></span></span><p></p><p>The Devonian Period, 419 to 358 million years ago, was one of the most turbulent times in Earth’s past and was marked by at least six significant marine extinctions, including one of the five largest mass extinctions ever to have occurred. </p><p>Additionally, it was during the Devonian that trees and complex land plants similar to those we know today first evolved and spread across the landscape. This evolutionary advancement included the development of significant and complex root systems capable of affecting soil biogeochemistry on a scale the ancient Earth had yet to experience.<br /><br />It has been theorized that these two seemingly separate events, marine extinctions and plant evolution and expansion, were intricately linked in the Devonian. Specifically, it has been proposed that plant evolution and root development occurred so rapidly and on such a massive scale that nutrient export from the land to the ancient oceans would have drastically increased. </p><p>This scenario is seen in modern systems where anthropogenically sourced nutrient export has vastly increased the nutrient load into areas such as the Gulf of Mexico and the Great Lakes, leading to large-scale algal blooms that ultimately deplete the oxygen in the water column. This effect, known as eutrophication, magnified on a global scale, would have been catastrophic to ancient oceans, fueling algal blooms that would have depleted most of the ocean’s oxygen.<br /><br />The key to linking mass extinctions and the expansion and radiation of land plants lies in identifying a nutrient flux elevated above background levels, linking that nutrient flux to either indirect or direct evidence of the presence of deeply rooting land plants and finally showing that this phenomenon occurred in multiple locations and times.<br /><br />This study, the first of its kind, was able to do precisely that by utilizing geochemical records from ancient lake deposits in Greenland, northern Scotland, and Orkney. Utilizing lake records, elevated values of the nutrient phosphorus were detected in five distinct locations during the height of plant evolution and expansion in the Devonian. In each case, elevated values of nutrient input were coincident with evidence of the presence of early trees in the form of fossilized spores and, in some cases, fossilized stems of the earliest deeply rooting tree, Archaeopteris. In two cases, that evidence coincided with a Devonian marine extinction event, including the most significant Devonian mass extinction, the Frasnian–Famennian extinction (also known as the Late Devonian mass extinction).<br /><br />Additionally, this study, published in the Geological Society of America Bulletin, linked the periodic wet/dry climate cycles known to exist in the region during the Devonian with specific episodes of plant colonization. While elevated nutrient export was noted during both wet and dry climate cycles, the most significant export events occurred during wet cycles, suggesting that plant expansion was episodic and tied to climate cyclicity.<br /><br />The episodic nature of plant expansion could help explain why there are at least six significant marine extinctions in the Devonian. While the scope of this study was limited to a single geographic region, it is likely that these events occurred throughout the Devonian Earth. </p><p>The colonization of different types of land plants in different regions and at different times would have resulted in episodic nutrient pulses significant enough to sustain eutrophication and cause (or at least contribute) to the numerous marine extinction events throughout the mid- to Late Devonian.</p><p> </p><p><i><u>The above story is based on <a href="https://pubs.geoscienceworld.org/gsa/gsabulletin/article/doi/10.1130/B36384.1/618814/Enhanced-terrestrial-nutrient-release-during-the" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Materials</a> provided by Indiana University–Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI).</u></i><br /></p>

Mass Extinctions May Have Been Driven by the Evolution of Tree Roots

Mass Extinctions May Have Been Driven by the Evolution of Tree Roots. Fossilized tree roots in limestone blocks A series of mass extinctions...

Read more »

Crystals That Generate Electricity From Heat

<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgi9_SaVnvG2eyf4HSztEq9085InlxTh7T1ctiw2osuMC7vYZf0mpnWLwf6l7BH1_PPD-QfSrVT5NI2arOsPKOsn1PLoBjW45Ia0X2hI3SMF1kDiuAHhv6UXCz_g-KWyxxj1vqQvv2Vw3LuztQXOOLsR9-vm2J_T1jiN8n4lH9HZCFpE1I1thRKwFvU/s1217/Crystals%20Generate%20Electricity%20From%20Heat%20%20(1).jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Crystals Generate Electricity From Heat" border="0" data-original-height="887" data-original-width="1217" height="466" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgi9_SaVnvG2eyf4HSztEq9085InlxTh7T1ctiw2osuMC7vYZf0mpnWLwf6l7BH1_PPD-QfSrVT5NI2arOsPKOsn1PLoBjW45Ia0X2hI3SMF1kDiuAHhv6UXCz_g-KWyxxj1vqQvv2Vw3LuztQXOOLsR9-vm2J_T1jiN8n4lH9HZCFpE1I1thRKwFvU/w640-h466/Crystals%20Generate%20Electricity%20From%20Heat%20%20(1).jpeg" title="Crystals Generate Electricity From Heat" width="640" /></a></div> <br /><p></p><p style="text-align: left;"></p><h4 style="text-align: left;">A synthetic sulfide mineral with thermoelectric properties.</h4><p style="text-align: left;">In the effort to efficiently convert heat into electricity, easily accessible materials from harmless raw materials open up new perspectives in the development of safe and inexpensive so-called thermoelectric materials. </p><p style="text-align: left;">A synthetic copper mineral acquires a complex structure and microstructure through simple changes in its composition, thereby laying the foundation for the desired properties, according to a study published recently in the journal<i> Angewandte Chemie.</i><br /><br />The novel synthetic material is composed of copper, manganese, germanium, and sulfur, and it is produced in a rather simple process, explains materials scientist Emmanuel Guilmeau, CNRS researcher at CRISMAT laboratory, Caen, France, who is the corresponding author of the study. “The powders are simply mechanically alloyed by ball-milling to form a precrystallized phase, which is then densified by 600 degrees Celsius. This process can be easily scaled up,” he says.<br /></p><div style="margin: 0px auto; width: 100%;"> <script async="" src="//pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/js/adsbygoogle.js"></script> <ins class="adsbygoogle" data-ad-client="ca-pub-1021498709184325" data-ad-format="fluid" data-ad-layout="in-article" data-ad-slot="6157425841" style="display: block; text-align: center;"></ins> <script> (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); </script> </div><br />Thermoelectric materials convert heat to electricity. This is especially useful in industrial processes where waste heat is reused as valuable electric power. The converse approach is the cooling of electronic parts, for example, in smartphones or cars. Materials used in these kinds of applications have to be not only efficient, but also inexpensive and, above all, safe for health.<br /><br />However, thermoelectric devices used to date make use of expensive and toxic elements such as lead and tellurium, which offer the best conversion efficiency. To find safer alternatives, Emmanuel Guilmeau and his team have turned to derivatives of natural copper-based sulfide minerals. These mineral derivatives are mainly composed of nontoxic and abundant elements, and some of them have thermoelectric properties.<br /><br />Now, the team has succeeded in producing a series of thermoelectric materials showing two crystal structures within the same material. “We were very surprised at the result. Usually, slightly changing the composition has little effect on the structure in this class of materials,” says Emmanuel Guilmeau describing their discovery.<br /><br />The team found that replacing a small fraction of the manganese with copper produced complex microstructures with interconnected nanodomains, defects, and coherent interfaces, which affected the material’s transport properties for electrons and heat.<br /><br />Emmanuel Guilmeau says that the novel material produced is stable up to 400 degrees Celsius (750 degrees Fahrenheit). This is a temperature range that is well within the waste heat temperature range of most industries. He is convinced that, based on this discovery, novel cheaper, and nontoxic thermoelectric materials could be designed to replace more problematic materials.<br /><p></p><p><u><i><br />The above story is based on <a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/anie.202210600" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Materials</a> provided by <a href="https://www.cnrs.fr/fr" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">CNRS</a>.</i></u></p>

Crystals That Generate Electricity From Heat

  A synthetic sulfide mineral with thermoelectric properties. In the effort to efficiently convert heat into electricity, easily accessible ...

Read more »

Kummakivi, Balancing Rock, Seems to Defy the Laws of Physics

<p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4-yBXQ-JfAxjzzzKNM9AwFaZ7dOhYKLrQDsov5LKEaC_jM0qEkB6YDi7xe_qsx8418PFPyzBGrmHv_YhjKOI7vamGAFqaqzrWqg0pTugLTfI0vbVjFUX-bKDWINmFI6PUUkUJVqcZtI325yBLqKNk59y4eqrU_x1Lc4wx3Ofw6jt4sT5Nphg9KLSh/s1267/Kummakivi,%20Finland's%20Balancing%20Rock,%20Seems%20to%20Defy%20the%20Laws%20of%20Physics.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Kummakivi, Balancing Rock, Seems to Defy the Laws of Physics" border="0" data-original-height="1024" data-original-width="1267" height="518" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4-yBXQ-JfAxjzzzKNM9AwFaZ7dOhYKLrQDsov5LKEaC_jM0qEkB6YDi7xe_qsx8418PFPyzBGrmHv_YhjKOI7vamGAFqaqzrWqg0pTugLTfI0vbVjFUX-bKDWINmFI6PUUkUJVqcZtI325yBLqKNk59y4eqrU_x1Lc4wx3Ofw6jt4sT5Nphg9KLSh/w640-h518/Kummakivi,%20Finland's%20Balancing%20Rock,%20Seems%20to%20Defy%20the%20Laws%20of%20Physics.jpeg" title="Kummakivi, Finland's Balancing Rock, Seems to Defy the Laws of Physics" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Kummakivi, Balancing Rock, Seems to Defy the Laws of Physics. A large precarious boulder called Kummakivi (”Strange stone”), located in Ruokolahti, southeastern FInland. A white miniature schnauzer under it gives an idea of the scale.<br />Photo: Kotivalo<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p></p><h3 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: times;">Kummakivi is a 5,00000 Kg Rock in Finland That Has Been Balancing on Top of Another Rock for 11,000 Years.</span></span><br /></h3><p>Kummakivi is a large balancing rock in Ruokolahti, Finland. The 7-metre long boulder lies on a convex bedrock surface with a very small footprint but so firmly that it cannot be rocked with human force.<br /></p><p>The name of this Finnish balancing rock, ‘Kummakivi’, has been translated to mean ‘strange rock’. Two rocks make up this unusual geological formation. The rock on the bottom has the shape of a curved mound. It is lodged in the earth, and has a smooth, convex surface.<br /><br />Resting on the top of this bedrock is another huge rock measuring about 7 meters long (22.97 ft). The contact point between these two rocks is rather small, and it looks as though the upper rock is performing an impossible balancing act.<br /><br />Anyone looking at the Kummakivi Balancing Rock for the first time would probably be expecting the upper rock to roll off at any time. Yet the rock is firmly anchored onto the bedrock, and it has yet to be pushed over (or even moved slightly) by any human being.<br />  <br />People have probably always wondered that, but we'll never know because it has been there approximately 12,000 years — way before we started recording anything. However, Finnish folklore says that some giants or trolls carried the rock to the forest and balanced it on its plinth. These days geologists say it was deposited by a retreating glacier at the end of the last ice age — and as we know, a glacier is basically the only thing as strong as a giant or a troll.</p><p></p><div style="margin: 0px auto; width: 100%;"> <script async="" src="//pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/js/adsbygoogle.js"></script> <ins class="adsbygoogle" data-ad-client="ca-pub-1021498709184325" data-ad-format="fluid" data-ad-layout="in-article" data-ad-slot="6157425841" style="display: block; text-align: center;"></ins> <script> (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); </script> </div><br /><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEio1QIUtoEAL7cXe_yi5qxiXY71rMjJ1CprL4hI6AiAL8PtHZxmkhjwKDGW-fUlS1pQ7dPZh1AqVW2c1g_mL9zJOzaadS_dwcpfeiV6dPDnrDRRARa6pEy7-AlYxpzNjrQ8HSq6xQuMxkuSaX_k8Za0u8IQePX8j9OIsLszkLLLOEpIhS4S2XEQKxrJ/s1221/Kummakivi%20balancing%20rock%20at%20Ruokolahti,%20Finland.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Kummakivi, Finland's Balancing Rock, Seems to Defy the Laws of Physics" border="0" data-original-height="780" data-original-width="1221" height="255" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEio1QIUtoEAL7cXe_yi5qxiXY71rMjJ1CprL4hI6AiAL8PtHZxmkhjwKDGW-fUlS1pQ7dPZh1AqVW2c1g_mL9zJOzaadS_dwcpfeiV6dPDnrDRRARa6pEy7-AlYxpzNjrQ8HSq6xQuMxkuSaX_k8Za0u8IQePX8j9OIsLszkLLLOEpIhS4S2XEQKxrJ/w400-h255/Kummakivi%20balancing%20rock%20at%20Ruokolahti,%20Finland.jpeg" title="Kummakivi, Finland's Balancing Rock, Seems to Defy the Laws of Physics" width="400" /></a></div><p></p><p style="text-align: left;"></p><h4 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Supernatural and Scientific Explanations</span><br /></h4><p style="text-align: left;">Finnish folklore also states that such creatures have the habit of throwing boulders around, creating cairns, and carving out strange holes in rocky outcrops (which are believed to have been used by these giants to churn milk). Thus, the explanation provided by local folklore for the Kummakivi Balancing Rock is that it was brought / rolled / thrown there by a giant / troll.<br /><br />Geologists, however, have provided an alternate explanation for the formation of the Kummakivi Balancing Rock. It has been speculated that the huge rock had been brought there by glaciers during the last glacial period. When the glaciers retreated from the area to the north, about 12,000 years ago, this rock was left behind, and hence became the Kummakivi Balancing Rock. </p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQS8mi0MxaDTaY91a3MfXa7SJgo_ApEUFLYe3aQVOtTKAD9Nf9zqnolvMc_w_En_afDfaHwbek3iZV269rwvcDWU3PTfGR4Eok7a_eynWc8XCWHmGwC8UfPOft4F-hT3iBWC5FoG9a8GiwbhTGzXAQ36dNulUSiCBUa129zdiykzKxvw2uxmuknoNG/s1024/Kummakivi-2.webp" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Kummakivi, Finland's Balancing Rock, Seems to Defy the Laws of Physics" border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="1024" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQS8mi0MxaDTaY91a3MfXa7SJgo_ApEUFLYe3aQVOtTKAD9Nf9zqnolvMc_w_En_afDfaHwbek3iZV269rwvcDWU3PTfGR4Eok7a_eynWc8XCWHmGwC8UfPOft4F-hT3iBWC5FoG9a8GiwbhTGzXAQ36dNulUSiCBUa129zdiykzKxvw2uxmuknoNG/w400-h300/Kummakivi-2.webp" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Copyright: Retkipaikka.fi</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoBotzlJC_RdkCvtQseG3FpsUxtu_MU1jVNzVJOpNs8ydQmq0-h4EbzkXdsV-9OY8RgriyYhFL5fMRmhGUzX__wX_440eMFEmVfi7lV660T7eWpPze9osRjkBk_ud2rM5wN-gWMpbkQK1DAPRJitHizCqALZU4q3sD7c3E89CpHjLjGu3HHlthpKcN/s1319/Kummakivi_Panorama1%20(1).jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Kummakivi, Finland's Balancing Rock, Seems to Defy the Laws of Physics" border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="1319" height="183" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoBotzlJC_RdkCvtQseG3FpsUxtu_MU1jVNzVJOpNs8ydQmq0-h4EbzkXdsV-9OY8RgriyYhFL5fMRmhGUzX__wX_440eMFEmVfi7lV660T7eWpPze9osRjkBk_ud2rM5wN-gWMpbkQK1DAPRJitHizCqALZU4q3sD7c3E89CpHjLjGu3HHlthpKcN/w400-h183/Kummakivi_Panorama1%20(1).jpeg" title="Kummakivi, Finland's Balancing Rock, Seems to Defy the Laws of Physics" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Copyright: Attoivanen.fi</td></tr></tbody></table><p style="text-align: left;"><b><span style="color: #2b00fe;">See also:</span></b><br /><a href="https://www.geologyin.com/2022/07/chinas-mysterious-egg-laying-mountain.html" target="_blank">China’s Mysterious Egg-Laying Mountain That Spews Out Stone Eggs<br /></a><a href="https://www.geologyin.com/2019/07/ringing-rocks-geological-and-musical.html" target="_blank">Ringing Rocks A Geological and Musical Marvel</a><br /></p>

Kummakivi, Balancing Rock, Seems to Defy the Laws of Physics

Kummakivi, Balancing Rock, Seems to Defy the Laws of Physics. A large precarious boulder called Kummakivi (”Strange stone”), located in Ruok...

Read more »

3.5 Billion-year-old Rock Structures Are One of the Oldest Signs of Life on Earth

<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBQCNmdNqIgsBWnUUTL1HUp4WyxhXcBEtidOWY0K1loY4qLU2zVvLUI_TDqHk83Ei8N5Vr2Pl4N84IlYB6uC_vQcrIuPbKIIh-sBTYsmkDqknORpikbaNAeUmIM3rkPfckwU72iDNPhEgTy27QnfenTiG3kdu-48PywpGCF9MtKkUQ0oueRoR9HUwg/s1200/3.5%20billion-year-old%20rock%20structures%20are%20one%20of%20the%20oldest%20signs%20of%20life%20on%20Earth%20(1).jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="A sample of Dresser Formation stromatolite, showing a complex layered structure formed of hematite, barite, and quartz, and a domed upper surface. (Image credit: Keyron Hickman-Lewis)" border="0" data-original-height="865" data-original-width="1200" height="462" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBQCNmdNqIgsBWnUUTL1HUp4WyxhXcBEtidOWY0K1loY4qLU2zVvLUI_TDqHk83Ei8N5Vr2Pl4N84IlYB6uC_vQcrIuPbKIIh-sBTYsmkDqknORpikbaNAeUmIM3rkPfckwU72iDNPhEgTy27QnfenTiG3kdu-48PywpGCF9MtKkUQ0oueRoR9HUwg/w640-h462/3.5%20billion-year-old%20rock%20structures%20are%20one%20of%20the%20oldest%20signs%20of%20life%20on%20Earth%20(1).jpeg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A sample of Dresser Formation stromatolite, showing a complex layered structure formed of hematite, barite, and quartz, and a domed upper surface. (Image credit: Keyron Hickman-Lewis)<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><p><br />Fossils called stromatolites from Western Australia were created by microbes 3.48 billion years ago.<br /><br />The earliest morphological traces of life on Earth are often highly controversial, both because non-biological processes can produce relatively similar structures and because such fossils have often been subjected to advanced alteration and metamorphism. Stromatolites, layered organo-sedimentary structures reflecting complex interplays between microbial communities and their environment, have long been considered key macrofossils for life detection in ancient sedimentary rocks; however, the biological origin of ancient stromatolites has frequently been criticized. </p><p>An article released Friday in the Geological Society of America journal <i>Geology</i> uses a range of advanced two- and three-dimensional analytical techniques to establish the biological origins of Earth's oldest stromatolites from the 3.48-billion-year-old Dresser Formation, Pilbara, Western Australia.<br /></p><div style="margin: 0px auto; width: 100%;"> <script async="" src="//pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/js/adsbygoogle.js"></script> <ins class="adsbygoogle" data-ad-client="ca-pub-1021498709184325" data-ad-format="fluid" data-ad-layout="in-article" data-ad-slot="6157425841" style="display: block; text-align: center;"></ins> <script> (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); </script> </div><br />Although these stromatolites have undergone severe diagenesis and weathering and preserve no organic materials, a team led by Dr. Keyron Hickman-Lewis of the Natural History Museum, London, has used optical and electron microscopy, elemental geochemistry, Raman spectroscopy, and laboratory- and synchrotron-based tomography to identify numerous characteristics indicative of a biological origin.<br /><br />In addition to performing laboratory tomography of 3D stromatolitic macrostructure, the team was able to achieve the first sub-micron pixel and voxel sizes for imaging of Precambrian stromatolite microstructures via phase contrast imaging using the SYRMEP beamline at the Elettra Synchrotron, Trieste, Italy. This enabled the identification of non-uniform layer morphologies, void spaces arising from the degassing of decaying organic materials, and pillar-like vertical structures interpreted as microbial palisade structure, a common indicator of phototrophic growth.<br /><br />The Dresser Formation stromatolites have been mostly replaced by hematite (iron oxide) due to recent weathering. While this renders organic geochemical analyses impossible, this composition is highly relevant for the search for life on Mars.<br /><br />Sedimentary rocks at the surface of Mars have been subjected to similar pervasive oxidation and also comprise mostly iron oxides in their upper centimeters to meters. In this regard, the Dresser Formation stromatolites may be uniquely relevant materials to inform us of a precise style of biosignature preservation expected on Mars. As the Mars 2020 Perseverance rover continues its exploration of Jezero crater, we should search for morphological expressions of life resembling those identified in the Dresser Formation and prepare for advanced multi-technique analyses when Martian samples are eventually returned to Earth.<p></p><p></p><p></p><p><br /><i><u><span style="font-family: trebuchet;">The above story is based on Materials provided by <a href="https://www.geosociety.org/GSA/News/pr/2022/22-66.aspx" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; border-radius: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #004276; font-size: 14px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;" target="_blank">Materials</a><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; color: #333333; display: inline; float: none; font-size: 14px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span> </span>provided by<span> </span></span><a href="https://www.geosociety.org/" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; border-radius: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #004276; font-size: 14px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;" target="_blank"><b style="border-radius: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: bold;">Geological Society of America</b></a><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; color: #333333; display: inline; float: none; font-size: 14px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">.<span> </span></span></span></u></i><br /><br /> </p>

3.5 Billion-year-old Rock Structures Are One of the Oldest Signs of Life on Earth

A sample of Dresser Formation stromatolite, showing a complex layered structure formed of hematite, barite, and quartz, and a domed upper su...

Read more »

Richat Structure: Geological Wonder in the Sahara Desert

<p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHhIJpFb02tnUsDnTkHl0Ju_v1G78sbPjbm20oOdpgVLrHc84ymWzQQFXVljq5eeOtq9l--tIAP1LNRh2X8xiqN9dBsF-he-5p2d1SdyaZLb1Jer3Ce5qy-7QEr1CoR1WBJY_-Bo2RR46rwNWRqx6f5n1PiQ3P_HXLXulr_6hH_oBU29BZc3pHf2Lp/s1247/Richat%20Structure.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Richat structure, Mauritania. Photo: European Space Agency" border="0" data-original-height="1247" data-original-width="1247" height="632" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHhIJpFb02tnUsDnTkHl0Ju_v1G78sbPjbm20oOdpgVLrHc84ymWzQQFXVljq5eeOtq9l--tIAP1LNRh2X8xiqN9dBsF-he-5p2d1SdyaZLb1Jer3Ce5qy-7QEr1CoR1WBJY_-Bo2RR46rwNWRqx6f5n1PiQ3P_HXLXulr_6hH_oBU29BZc3pHf2Lp/w640-h632/Richat%20Structure.jpeg" title="Richat structure, Mauritania. Photo: European Space Agency" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Richat structure, Mauritania. Photo: European Space Agency</td></tr></tbody></table> <br /><p></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">A geologic dome, the Richat Structure has concentric bands of resistant quartzite rocks which form the ridges.  Sedimentary rock is found between the ridges.  </span><br /><br />The Richat Structure of Mauritania has captured the attention of astronauts for about as long as NASA has sent humans into orbit around Earth. This circular geologic feature is thought to be caused by an uplifted dome—geologists would classify it as a domed anticline—that has been eroded to expose the originally flat rock layers.<br /><br />The Richat structure has been a case of scientific debate about the origin of ring structures in the world. There have been several studies to define whether it was an impact structure or intrusive feature.<br /><br />The 40 km-diameter circular Richat structure is one of the geological features that is easier to observe from space than from down on the ground, and has been a familiar landmark to astronauts since the earliest missions.<br /><br />Once thought to be the result of a meteor impact, researchers now believe it was caused by a large dome of molten rock uplifting and, once at the surface, being shaped by wind and water into what we see today. Concentric bands of resistant quartzite rocks form ridges, with valleys of less-resistant rock between them.<br /><br />In this type of geologic structure, rocks exposed in the center of the “bullseye” are older than rocks forming the outer rings. This structure measures 45 kilometers (28 miles) across and is made up of igneous and sedimentary rocks. There are several faults visible (lower left) where strata that were once continuous have been shifted apart.<br /><br />The circular structure of Richat is located in the northwestern part of the Taoudeni basin, in the central part of the Mauritanian Adrar plateaus, where it is expressed at the surface as a slightly elliptical depression, about 40 km in diameter, marked by concentric ridges of Proterozoic-Lower Paleozoic strata.<br /><br />The Richat structure appears as a large dome within a Late Proterozoic to Ordovician sequence, with circular cuestas represented by three nested rings dipping outward from the structure. The center of the structure consists of a limestone-dolomite shelf that encloses a kilometer-scale siliceous mega-breccia and is intruded by basaltic (gabbroic) ring dikes, kimberlitic intrusions, and alkaline volcanic rocks.</p><p> </p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyitvIsf_ocoHmpKH78EFeVkJlP99jsi_0c0mPur8-9sNWAOivvAAJQPoLGaJWRghNTVxBrWQbcOkMVbh_8rN2hhsvgP19ABJwtavee78iWrWWcWmMlEexKPnD2H5wB31wqVwo26hF-l9Jf6j3BZaEd1zDextLHCVt3N5VYK78Ob0fp8J68I7iAZbh/s1207/Richat%20Structure3.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Richat structure, Mauritania. Photo: European Space Agency" border="0" data-original-height="805" data-original-width="1207" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyitvIsf_ocoHmpKH78EFeVkJlP99jsi_0c0mPur8-9sNWAOivvAAJQPoLGaJWRghNTVxBrWQbcOkMVbh_8rN2hhsvgP19ABJwtavee78iWrWWcWmMlEexKPnD2H5wB31wqVwo26hF-l9Jf6j3BZaEd1zDextLHCVt3N5VYK78Ob0fp8J68I7iAZbh/w400-h266/Richat%20Structure3.jpeg" title="Photo: NASA Earth Observatory" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Photo: NASA Earth Observatory</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidNzDbxUIAE9amZHIvj94y1sAkrQBZlR4YXM8S8_4GzVEHjPzhBfWxKRSDdMDpUMohPzxIBnF5rCAkYrI_fSbGqzPe21yRCMeULDiyU8jjyldXJeZWsgIKRZTqmdsqANx476iCBkb0qunKoMG7AqY0N8tn8eWyUlRYGkj4wQHCXccxgMpgVj5pVnj3/s1252/Richat%20Structure2.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Richat structure, Mauritania." border="0" data-original-height="831" data-original-width="1252" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidNzDbxUIAE9amZHIvj94y1sAkrQBZlR4YXM8S8_4GzVEHjPzhBfWxKRSDdMDpUMohPzxIBnF5rCAkYrI_fSbGqzPe21yRCMeULDiyU8jjyldXJeZWsgIKRZTqmdsqANx476iCBkb0qunKoMG7AqY0N8tn8eWyUlRYGkj4wQHCXccxgMpgVj5pVnj3/w400-h265/Richat%20Structure2.jpeg" title="Richat Structure: Geological Wonder in the Sahara Desert" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Photo: NASA Earth Observatory</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p> <br /></p>

Richat Structure: Geological Wonder in the Sahara Desert

Richat structure, Mauritania. Photo: European Space Agency   A geologic dome, the Richat Structure has concentric bands of resistant quartzi...

Read more »

Snail From 99 Million Years Ago Discovered With Hairs Growing on Shell

<p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIWivZaIzPASXx--pQEFu9XE1C6BRv1USW6cHRSRSrTO0pcREIwKGmQ842Nik9fRAFjJwj9wZeAzvSc6lx88r3eGX8hCZeUsuwQX8xGRtPW6O3m3WHCEJV-75XV8PflkmIPQaeUFQ7JtYLFYyiGWm_GcpapAvAaXb9v31U1Azeg0Nj4ZTE0-eUBbPx/s1109/Ancient%20Snail%20From%2099%20Million%20Years%20Ago%20Discovered%20With%20Hairs%20Growing%20on%20Shell%20%20(1).jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Snail From 99 Million Years Ago Discovered With Hairs Growing on Shell" border="0" data-original-height="926" data-original-width="1109" height="534" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIWivZaIzPASXx--pQEFu9XE1C6BRv1USW6cHRSRSrTO0pcREIwKGmQ842Nik9fRAFjJwj9wZeAzvSc6lx88r3eGX8hCZeUsuwQX8xGRtPW6O3m3WHCEJV-75XV8PflkmIPQaeUFQ7JtYLFYyiGWm_GcpapAvAaXb9v31U1Azeg0Nj4ZTE0-eUBbPx/w640-h534/Ancient%20Snail%20From%2099%20Million%20Years%20Ago%20Discovered%20With%20Hairs%20Growing%20on%20Shell%20%20(1).jpeg" title="Ancient Snail From 99 Million Years Ago Discovered With Hairs Growing on Shell" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The 99-million-year-old amber containing the tiny snail. (Photo: Senckenberg)<br /></td></tr></tbody></table> <br /><p></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">A snail preserved in amber with an intact fringe of tiny delicate bristles along its shell is helping biologists better understand why one of the world's slimiest animals might evolve such a groovin' hairstyle.</span><br /><br />International researchers, including Senckenberg’s Dr. Adrienne Jochum, have discovered a new species of land snail in an approximately 99-million-year-old piece of amber. The snail’s shell features short, bristly hairs that are arranged along its margin. In their study, published in the scientific journal “<i>Cretaceous Research,</i>” the team, led by first author Dr. Jean-Michel Bichain of the Museum of Natural History and Ethnography in Colmar, France, concludes that the presence of hairs may have offered the mollusks a selective advantage in their evolution.<br /><br />The fine hairs, measuring only 150 to 200 micrometers in length, were detected on the shell of the newly discovered species <i>Archaeocyclotus brevivillosus </i>sp. nov. using classical microscopy and 3D X-ray micro-computed tomography. </p><p>“This is already the sixth species of hairy-shelled Cyclophoridae, a group of tropical land nails, found so far embedded in Mesozoic amber, about 99 million years old,” explains Dr. Adrienne Jochum from the Senckenberg Research Institute and Natural History Museum in Frankfurt and the Natural History Museum in Bern. Dr. Jochum explains that “It is not uncommon for the shells of fossil and present-day land snails to be embellished with ridges, hairs, nodules, or folds; however, the development of such ‘decoration’ is still a complex process that usually does not occur without a purpose.”<br /></p><div style="margin: 0px auto; width: 100%;"> <script async="" src="//pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/js/adsbygoogle.js"></script> <ins class="adsbygoogle" data-ad-client="ca-pub-1021498709184325" data-ad-format="fluid" data-ad-layout="in-article" data-ad-slot="6157425841" style="display: block; text-align: center;"></ins> <script> (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); </script> </div><br />The hairs on snail shells are formed by the uppermost proteinaceous shell layer (periostracum). Hairy shells are known from several families of land snails, including woodland snails or Polygyridae snails, suggesting that hairiness arose several times independently during the evolution of land snails, even in groups that were only distantly related. <br /><br />“The new species, <i>Archaeocyclotus brevivillosus,</i> originates from a Cretaceous amber mine in the Hukawng Valley in Burma, where it was collected prior to 2017. The fossil snail is 26.5 millimeters long, 21 millimeters wide, and 9 millimeters tall. The shell’s outer margin is lined with short hairs that are bunched around the shell opening. Its name derives from the Latin words brevis (short or small) and villōsus (hairy or shaggy),” says Jochum, describing the animal.<br /><br />A total of eight species of the family Cyclophoridae have been recovered from Burmese amber, and six of them featured bristly shells. The scientists believe that this is no coincidence. They assume that the hairiness offered the snails an evolutionary advantage. “For example, the hairs could improve the animals’ ability to better cling to plant stalks or leaves – something that has already been observed in present-day snails. <p></p><p>They may also have played a role in thermal regulation for the snail by allowing tiny water droplets to adhere to the shell, thereby serving as an ‘air conditioner.’ Or they may have protected the snail shell from being corroded by the highly acidic soil and leaf litter of the ancient tropical forest floor. The bristles could also have served as camouflage or protected the snail against a direct attack by stalking birds or soil predators. And finally, it cannot be ruled out that the hairs provided an advantage in sexual selection,” says Jochum, summarizing the possible benefits of hairs for the snails.</p><p> </p><p><u><i>The above story is based on <a href="https://museumfrankfurt.senckenberg.de/en/pressemeldungen/hairy-snail-discovered-in-99-million-year-old-amber/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Materials</a> provided by <a href="https://museumfrankfurt.senckenberg.de/en/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Senckenberg Naturmuseum Frankfurt.  </a></i></u><br /></p>

Snail From 99 Million Years Ago Discovered With Hairs Growing on Shell

The 99-million-year-old amber containing the tiny snail. (Photo: Senckenberg)   A snail preserved in amber with an intact fringe of tiny del...

Read more »