An artist’s depiction of ancient albatrosses harassing a pelagornithid — with its fearsome toothed beak — over the oceans around Antarctica 50 million years ago | Image courtesy of Brian Choo, via https://news.berkeley.edu/
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Fossils from Antarctica belong to gigantic bird species
Scientists have discovered that fossils recovered from Antarctica in the 1980s belong to the oldest giant members of an extinct group of birds that patrolled the southern oceans.
The wingspans of these birds went up to 21 feet — enough to dwarf the eleven-and-a-half foot wingspan of today’s largest bird, the wandering albatross.
Called ‘pelagornithids’, the birds were much like the albatrosses, and are believed to have travelled widely over Earth’s oceans for at least 60 million years.
The team of American and Chinese researchers behind the finding believes that the birds evolved to a gigantic size relatively quickly after the extinction of dinosaurs. The last known bird of this species lived an estimated 2.5 million years ago, a time when the climate was changing as Earth cooled, and the ice ages began.
Pelagornithids are known as ‘bony-toothed’ birds because of the bony projections on their jaws. However, these protrusions are not like human teeth. Instead, they were covered by a horny material, keratin, which is like our fingernails. Called ‘pseudo teeth’, the protrusions helped the birds snag squid and fish from the sea as they soared for, perhaps, weeks at a time over much of Earth’s oceans. More on The Independent.
Astronomers discover 39 gravitational-wave events representing black holes, neutron stars
An international collaboration of astronomers, including scientists from India, has produced the most detailed family portrait of black holes to date by analysing the most recent gravitational-wave data.
Gravitational waves are ripples in the space-time fabric. The latest data from the LIGO Scientific Collaboration (LSC) and the Virgo Collaboration — which are two gravitational wave detectors — has helped discover 39 cosmic bodies, representing a variety of black holes and neutron stars.
The observations could be key to solving the many mysteries around how binary stars interact — a better understanding of which has consequences across the astronomy spectrum, from exoplanets to galaxy formation. More on Science Magazine.
Asteroid Bennu has been in near-Earth orbit for 1.75 million years
Scientists have found that the asteroid Bennu has been orbiting near Earth for approximately 1.75 million years.
Bennu is the asteroid that NASA’s ORISIS-Rex spacecraft touched down on this week, to collect samples. The samples are scheduled to return to Earth by 2023, which will allow scientists to learn more about the ancient past of the solar system.
To learn more about the age of the asteroid and the time it has spent orbiting near the Earth, researchers from the US focused their efforts on craters in boulders on its surface.
Previous research suggests that Bennu was once part of a larger body and was knocked off by a collision with another object while orbiting in the circumstellar disc, an asteroid belt located between Mars and Jupiter.
After the collision, Bennu slowly made its way out of the asteroid belt. It was then that it was struck by other objects, some of which hit boulders on its surface, resulting in large craters.
Even after leaving the asteroid belt, Bennu continued to be hit by other smaller objects, some of which also struck boulders on its surface. The team believes those newer strikes resulted in smaller impact craters. Since Bennu moved into a near-Earth orbit, those smaller craters have represented the timeline of its move to the new orbit.
By studying the size and depth of those craters using data from OSIRIS-Rex, the researchers were able to estimate their age — approximately 1.75 million years — which also shows how long Bennu has been near the Earth orbit. More on CNN.
Rare molecule found on Saturn’s moon puzzles scientists
NASA scientists have identified a molecule in the atmosphere of Saturn’s moon — Titan — that has never been detected in any other atmosphere. The molecule is called cyclopropenylidene, or C3H2.
“Ring-shaped molecules like this tend to act as the building blocks of molecules necessary for life, such as DNA and RNA,” New Scientist reports, adding that researchers believe it may help understand the beginning of life on Earth better.
The team found C3H2 by using a radio telescope observatory in northern Chile known as the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA).
Although scientists have found C3H2 in pockets throughout the galaxy, finding it in an atmosphere was a surprise, since cyclopropenylidene can react easily with other molecules it comes into contact with and form different species.
Astronomers have so far found C3H2 only in clouds of gas and dust that float between star systems. There are regions too cold and empty to facilitate many chemical reactions.
However, Titan has a dense atmosphere, which is why NASA is planning to send a probe called the ‘Dragonfly mission’ to this moon in 2034. More on New Scientist.
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NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — The body of Ugandan Olympic athlete Rebecca Cheptegei — who died after being set on fire by her partner in Kenya — was received Friday by family and anti-femicide crusaders, ahead of her burial a day later.
Cheptegei’s family met with dozens of activists Friday who had marched to the Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital’s morgue in the western city of Eldoret while chanting anti-femicide slogans.
She is the fourth female athlete to have been killed by her partner in Kenya in yet another case of gender-based violence in recent years.
Viola Cheptoo, the founder of Tirop Angels – an organization that was formed in honor of athlete Agnes Tirop, who was stabbed to death in 2021, said stakeholders need to ensure this is the last death of an athlete due to gender-based violence.
“We are here to say that enough is enough, we are tired of burying our sisters due to GBV,” she said.
It was a somber mood at the morgue as athletes and family members viewed Cheptegei’s body which sustained 80% of burns after she was doused with gasoline by her partner Dickson Ndiema. Ndiema sustained 30% burns on his body and later succumbed.
Ndiema and Cheptegei were said to have quarreled over a piece of land that the athlete bought in Kenya, according to a report filed by the local chief.
Cheptegei competed in the women’s marathon at the Paris Olympics less than a month before the attack. She finished in 44th place.
Cheptegei’s father, Joseph, said that the body will make a brief stop at their home in the Endebess area before proceeding to Bukwo in eastern Uganda for a night vigil and burial on Saturday.
“We are in the final part of giving my daughter the last respect,” a visibly distraught Joseph said.
He told reporters last week that Ndiema was stalking and threatening Cheptegei and the family had informed police.
Four in 10 women or an estimated 41% of dating or married Kenyan women have experienced physical or sexual violence perpetrated by their current or most recent partner, according to the Kenya Demographic and Health Survey 2022.
TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — A rare Bronze-Era jar accidentally smashed by a 4-year-old visiting a museum was back on display Wednesday after restoration experts were able to carefully piece the artifact back together.
Last month, a family from northern Israel was visiting the museum when their youngest son tipped over the jar, which smashed into pieces.
Alex Geller, the boy’s father, said his son — the youngest of three — is exceptionally curious, and that the moment he heard the crash, “please let that not be my child” was the first thought that raced through his head.
The jar has been on display at the Hecht Museum in Haifa for 35 years. It was one of the only containers of its size and from that period still complete when it was discovered.
The Bronze Age jar is one of many artifacts exhibited out in the open, part of the Hecht Museum’s vision of letting visitors explore history without glass barriers, said Inbal Rivlin, the director of the museum, which is associated with Haifa University in northern Israel.
It was likely used to hold wine or oil, and dates back to between 2200 and 1500 B.C.
Rivlin and the museum decided to turn the moment, which captured international attention, into a teaching moment, inviting the Geller family back for a special visit and hands-on activity to illustrate the restoration process.
Rivlin added that the incident provided a welcome distraction from the ongoing war in Gaza. “Well, he’s just a kid. So I think that somehow it touches the heart of the people in Israel and around the world,“ said Rivlin.
Roee Shafir, a restoration expert at the museum, said the repairs would be fairly simple, as the pieces were from a single, complete jar. Archaeologists often face the more daunting task of sifting through piles of shards from multiple objects and trying to piece them together.
Experts used 3D technology, hi-resolution videos, and special glue to painstakingly reconstruct the large jar.
Less than two weeks after it broke, the jar went back on display at the museum. The gluing process left small hairline cracks, and a few pieces are missing, but the jar’s impressive size remains.
The only noticeable difference in the exhibit was a new sign reading “please don’t touch.”
VICTORIA – The British Columbia government is partnering with a bear welfare group to reduce the number of bears being euthanized in the province.
Nicholas Scapillati, executive director of Grizzly Bear Foundation, said Monday that it comes after months-long discussions with the province on how to protect bears, with the goal to give the animals a “better and second chance at life in the wild.”
Scapillati said what’s exciting about the project is that the government is open to working with outside experts and the public.
“So, they’ll be working through Indigenous knowledge and scientific understanding, bringing in the latest techniques and training expertise from leading experts,” he said in an interview.
B.C. government data show conservation officers destroyed 603 black bears and 23 grizzly bears in 2023, while 154 black bears were killed by officers in the first six months of this year.
Scapillati said the group will publish a report with recommendations by next spring, while an independent oversight committee will be set up to review all bear encounters with conservation officers to provide advice to the government.
Environment Minister George Heyman said in a statement that they are looking for new ways to ensure conservation officers “have the trust of the communities they serve,” and the panel will make recommendations to enhance officer training and improve policies.
Lesley Fox, with the wildlife protection group The Fur-Bearers, said they’ve been calling for such a committee for decades.
“This move demonstrates the government is listening,” said Fox. “I suspect, because of the impending election, their listening skills are potentially a little sharper than they normally are.”
Fox said the partnership came from “a place of long frustration” as provincial conservation officers kill more than 500 black bears every year on average, and the public is “no longer tolerating this kind of approach.”
“I think that the conservation officer service and the B.C. government are aware they need to change, and certainly the public has been asking for it,” said Fox.
Fox said there’s a lot of optimism about the new partnership, but, as with any government, there will likely be a lot of red tape to get through.
“I think speed is going to be important, whether or not the committee has the ability to make change and make change relatively quickly without having to study an issue to death, ” said Fox.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 9, 2024.
