Month: November 2019

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Fossil suggests apes, old world monkeys moved in opposite directions from shared ancestor

In terms of their body plan, Old World monkeys — a group that includes primates like baboons and macaques — are generally considered more similar to ancestral species than apes are. But a new study suggests that as far as locomotion goes, apes and Old World monkeys each evolved a way of moving that was different from the ancestral species as they adapted to different niches in their environments.
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Coastlines’ contribution to climate change might have been underestimated

Permafrost coasts make up about one third of the Earth’s total coastline. As a result of accelerated climate change, whole sections of coastline rapidly thaw, and erode into the Arctic Ocean. A new study now shows that large amounts of carbon dioxide are potentially being produced along these eroding permafrost coastlines in the Arctic.
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Ancient gas cloud reveals universe’s first stars formed quickly

The discovery of a 13 billion-year-old cosmic cloud of gas enabled a team of astronomers to perform the earliest-ever measurement of how the universe was enriched with a diversity of chemical elements. Their findings reveal that the first generation of stars formed more quickly than previously thought.
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‘Pac-Man-like’ mergers could explain massive, spinning black holes

Scientists have reported detecting gravitational waves from 10 black hole mergers to date, but they are still trying to explain the origins of those mergers. The largest merger detected so far seems to have defied previous models because it has a higher spin and mass than the range thought possible. A group of researchers has created simulations that could explain how the merger happened.