ScienceDaily: Top Science News

Dinosaurs took over amid ice, not warmth, says a new study of ancient mass extinction

Posted: 01 Jul 2022 11:31 AM PDT

There is new evidence that ancient high latitudes, to which early dinosaurs were largely relegated, regularly froze over, and that the creatures adapted -- an apparent key to their later dominance.

Crushed, zapped, boiled, baked and more: Nature used 57 recipes to create Earth's 10,500-plus 'mineral kinds'

Posted: 01 Jul 2022 07:28 AM PDT

A 15-year study details the origins and diversity of every known mineral on Earth, a landmark body of work that will help reconstruct the history of life on Earth, guide the search for new minerals and ore deposits, predict possible characteristics of future life, and aid the search for habitable planets and extraterrestrial life.

Capturing the onset of galaxy rotation in the early universe

Posted: 01 Jul 2022 07:27 AM PDT

After the Big Bang came the earliest galaxies. Due to the expansion of the universe, these galaxies are receding away from us. This causes their emissions to be redshifted (shifted towards longer wavelengths). By studying these redshifts, it is possible to characterize the 'motion' within the galaxies as well as their distance. In a new study, astronomers have now revealed a likely rotational motion of one such distant galaxy.

Shrimps and worms among first animals to recover after largest mass extinction

Posted: 29 Jun 2022 12:01 PM PDT

Researchers studying ancient sea bed burrows and trails have discovered that bottom burrowing animals were among the first to bounce back after the end-Permian mass extinction.