Notices by Flipboard Science Desk (sciencedesk@flipboard.social), page 20

Heavy rains in southern Brazil have exposed the remains of one of the world's oldest dinosaurs, researchers say. Paleontologists found fossils next to a reservoir in the municipality of São João do Polêsine in May. The team says their find is around 233 million years old and belonged to a family of Triassic predators called Herrerasauridae. Read more from Live Science: https://flip.it/lOLhoA
#Science #History #Dinosaurs #Animals #Extinction

The ice sheets of Greenland and West Antarctica, the Amazon rainforest, and currents in the Atlantic Ocean are trying to tell us something about the climate, a new study has found. Results published Thursday in Nature Communications give these four key pillars of the global climate roughly even odds of either surviving or collapsing in the next three centuries, under current climate policies. Here’s more from The Hill: https://flip.it/OxuSj8
#Science #ClimateChange #GlobalWarming #Climate #ClimateAction

Ten antihelium nuclei have smacked into the International Space Station, according to unofficial reports. The rare event has theoretical physicists searching beyond current models for an explanation. ScienceAlert has more, including why researchers are treating the appearance of these small cosmic particles like a rainstorm in the desert. https://flip.it/O.aZ5W
#Science #ISS #Space #DarkMatter

Follow @space-ScienceAlert for more articles on space.

A pair of astrophysicists from Spain report evidence that comet A117uUD was put on its current “hyperbolic trajectory” — meaning that it will leave the solar system at some point in the foreseeable future — when it passed Saturn two years ago. Phys.org has more on what would be an extraordinarily rare event: https://flip.it/QUAQVG
#Science #Space #Comet #Saturn #SolarSystem

Since 1970, global populations of sharks and rays have decreased by more than 70%. New research shows that oceans without these creatures would be far less healthy.

From @TheConversationUS: https://flip.it/6I9cw6

#Sharks #Ocean #Biodiversity #Conservation #Environment #Animals #Science #Biology

Has NASA’s Perseverance discovered evidence of past life on Mars? The rover recently found an arrow-shaped rock, nicknamed Chevaya Falls, along the northern bank of Neretva Vallis, an ancient river that once rushed into the planet’s Jezero Crater. Live Science reports: https://flip.it/fEUzR1
#Science #Space #SpaceExploration #NASA

Seven eruptions have taken place along Iceland’s Reykjanes Peninsula, close to Reykjavík since 2021, giving Earth scientists the opportunity to better understand how volcanoes work — for many years to come. @ScienceAlert has more, including why the country is so volcanically active. https://flip.it/SiKelI
#Science #Geology #Iceland #Volcano

NASA’s Lunar Gateway has a big visiting vehicles problem.

From @arstechnica: "The Gateway — a small space station that will fly in a halo orbit around the Moon and spend most of its time far from the lunar surface — was initially supposed to launch in 2022."

https://flip.it/_oxs1Y

#Moon #Space #NASA #SpaceX #Science

Mercury could have an 11-mile underground layer of diamonds, researchers say.

From CNN: "The diamonds might have formed soon after Mercury itself coalesced into a planet about 4.5 billion years ago from a swirling cloud of dust and gas, in the crucible of a high-pressure, high-temperature environment."

https://flip.it/pDid1P

For similar stories, follow @space-news-science

#Mercury #Space #Science #Diamond

NASA and Boeing insist that two astronauts are not "stranded" in space. But Barry “Butch” Wilmore and Sunita “Suni” Williams have definitely been at the International Space Station much longer than initially intended.

@Vox has an explainer: https://flip.it/wiiZaL

#Space #NASA #Starliner #Boeing #Astronaut #ISS #Science

Why are there so many birds? Thank a giant asteroid.

From @popsci: "New research finds traces of the dinosaur extinction in avian genomes."

https://flip.it/5HmP7C

Here's the original study from Science Advances journal: https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.adp0114

#Birds #Dinosaurs #Paleontology #Science #Evolution #Animals

Nearly 16,000 km away from the main event in Paris, Olympic surfing kicked off in Teahupo‘o, Tahiti, French Polynesia this week. But construction of a judging tower angered environmental campaigners.

@euronews explains the controversy: https://flip.it/RF5S_w

For more Olympics news, follow @latest-olympics-news-thenewsdesk

#Tahiti #Environment #Coral #Ocean #Olympics #Olympics2024 #Surfing

The psychology of Olympians and how they master their minds to perform.

From @TheConversationUS: "The role of mental processes and behaviour such as emotional regulation (recognising and controlling emotions such as anxiety) allows Olympians to maintain focus and determination amid the global scrutiny that comes with competing on the world’s biggest stage."

https://flip.it/lFCN2v

#Psychology #Olympics #Olympics2024 #Paris2024 #Athletes #Resilience #Science

Trees don’t like to breathe wildfire smoke, either – and they’ll hold their breath to avoid it.

From @TheConversationUS: "In a study that started quite by accident when smoke overwhelmed our research site in Colorado, we were able to watch in real time how the leaves of living pine trees responded."

https://flip.it/SST1t2

For similar articles by academics, follow @science-technology-us-ConversationUS

#Trees #ClimateChange #Wildfire #Smoke #Climate #Botany #Chemistry #Science

Quantum information theorists are shedding light on entanglement, one of the spooky mysteries of quantum mechanics.

From @TheConversationUS: "The year 2025 marks the 100th anniversary of the birth of quantum mechanics. ... Given recent developments in quantum information science, researchers ... are using quantum information theory to explore new ways of thinking about these unanswered foundational questions."

https://flip.it/dGr0QW

#Quantum #QuantumPhysics #Computing #Physics #Science #Tech #Technology

Los Angeles Zoo hatches record number of condor chicks to release into the wild.

@science-news-theverge reports: "It’s the latest success in an incredible conservation story for North America’s biggest flying bird."

https://flip.it/emRkCE

#Condor #Birds #Conservation #Animals #LosAngeles #Science

Tigers are disappearing from Southeast Asia but a forest in Thailand is offering new hope.

From CNN: "The tiger population in the country’s Western Forest Complex (WEFCOM) ... is estimated to have more than tripled between 2007 and 2023, from 41 to 143."

https://flip.it/JTIlCO

#Tigers #Animals #Conservation #Zoology #Endangered #SoutheastAsia #Science

The discovery of a possible sign of life in Venus’ clouds sparked controversy four years ago. Now, scientists say they have more proof.

CNN reports: "The data, the researchers say, contains even stronger proof that phosphine is present in the clouds of Venus, our closest planetary neighbor."

https://flip.it/eQ3dJL

#Venus #Space #Science #Life #Astronomy

The Galapagos Islands and many of their unique creatures are at risk from warming waters.

AP reports: "The 2021 collapse of Darwin’s Arch, named for the famed British naturalist behind the theory of evolution, came from natural erosion. But its demise underscored the fragility of a far-flung archipelago that’s coming under increased pressure both from climate change and invasive species."

https://flip.it/twFEfo

#Galapagos #ClimateChange #Ocean #Climate #Environment #Ecuador #Science

What makes a champion? With the Olympics under way, @ScienceAlert looks at a 2019 study suggesting that the brains of elite athletes have crucial differences.

https://flip.it/xwF9IK

#Olympics #Athletes #Brain #Neuroscience #Science #Paris2024