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Dinosaur means “terrible lizard”. The idea that prehistoric creatures were scaly, slow-moving reptiles with sprawling postures and dragging their tails through tropical swamps is deeply rooted in the collective imagination.
However, science now has a more nuanced understanding of the diversity of dinosaur physiology. Many dinosaurs sported brightly colored feathers, like those of birds. Dinosaurs lived in many different ecosystems, including the Arctic, where they would have encountered snow (if not today’s ice sheets) and lightless winters.
New research this week adds new details to one of paleontology’s biggest questions: Was dinosaur blood hot or cold?
Davide Bonadonna/University of Vigo/UCL
Fossils have revealed that dinosaurs lived year-round in cold climates like the Arctic.
It is difficult to find evidence that demonstrates beyond doubt what dinosaur metabolisms were like. Evidence from egg shells and fossilized bones now suggests that some dinosaurs were warm-blooded and others were not.
Finding the answer is important because it sheds light on dinosaur behavior. Warm-blooded animals, such as mammals and birds, are more active than their cold-blooded counterparts.
A new study, based on fossils from 1,000 dinosaur species and paleoclimatic information, has found that the three main groups of dinosaurs adapted differently, with two of the groups developing the ability to regulate body temperature in the Early Jurassic, about 180 million years ago.
Research suggests that carnivorous theropods, including T. rex, and herbivorous ornithischians, such as Triceratops and Stegosaurus, spread to live in colder climates during the Early Jurassic, indicating that they may have developed the ability to generate body. heat internally.
Researchers have mapped a missing 40-mile-long section of the Nile using satellite radar imagery and sediment analysis.
The ancient Egyptians erected some 31 pyramids, including the Great Pyramid of Giza, along the banks of the now-vanished arm of the river, which the builders probably used to transport stone and other building materials.
The discovery, buried deep beneath farmland and not visible in aerial photographs, could help archaeologists locate other Egyptian temples and monuments hidden by the fields and desert sands that now cover the riverbed.
Google Search and Lichtman Lab/Harvard University
The 3D image above shows excitatory neurons colored by their depth from the surface of the brain. Blue neurons are those closest to the surface and fuchsia marks the innermost layer.
In another feat of mapping, a 3D model of a cubic millimeter of brain tissue – smaller than a grain of rice – is now available in stunning detail and beauty, thanks to a collaboration between Harvard University and scientists. Google researchers.
A team led by Dr. Jeff Lichtman, a professor of molecular and cellular biology at Harvard, cut the sample into thin sections one-thousandth the thickness of a human hair. Despite the small size of the fragment, it contained 57,000 cells, 230 millimeters of blood vessels and 150 million synapses.
Colorized images make individual components more visible, but are otherwise an accurate representation of the fabric.
Ultimately, the team hopes that observing the brain in this way could help scientists make sense of unresolved medical problems such as autism.
Ring patterns in tree trunks – affected by sunlight, precipitation and temperature – provide a climate history for each year of their lives, going back hundreds or even thousands of years.
Tree ring data from nine regions of the Northern Hemisphere, including North America and Scandinavia, allowed scientists to reconstruct annual temperatures of Northern Hemisphere summers between the years 1 and 1849 and to compare them with last summer’s temperatures.
The summer of 2023 was hotter than any other summer during this 2,000-year period, according to the study.
The temperature then was at least 0.5 degrees Celsius (0.9 degrees Fahrenheit) warmer than the hottest summer of the period studied, the year 246 – when the Roman Empire still ruled Europe and that the Mayan civilization dominated Central America.
Reinhard Dirscherl/ullstein bild/Getty Images
Communication between sperm whales is more complex than initially thought, researchers have discovered.
Marine scientists have used artificial intelligence to decode the previously unknown complexity of sperm whale calls.
The whales produced a catalog of clicks, which the researchers described as being akin to a “phonetic alphabet” for sperm whales.
Sperm whales produce clicks by forcing air through an organ in their heads called spermaceti, and these sounds can reach 230 decibels, louder than a rocket launch and capable of shattering human eardrums.
What sperm whales say with their clicks remains a mystery to human ears, but understanding the scope of their vocal exchanges is an important step in linking their calls to specific behavior.
Relax with these remarkable reads.
— Astronomers have spotted an unusual giant planet, as fluffy as cotton candy, about 1,200 light years from Earth.
— Scientists have solved a mystery about South America’s giant hummingbirds — using tiny, custom-made backpacks.
— Meet the herpetologist who is trying to save Indians from the dangers of snake bites.
— Carvings found on a castle gate in Dover, England, may include graffiti depicting Napoleon Bonaparte hanged, according to English Heritage.
And before we go, here’s an update from Starliner: The highly anticipated first crewed mission of Boeing’s new spacecraft has been delayed again.
Do you like what you read? Oh, but there’s more. register here to get the next edition of Wonder Theory delivered to your inbox, brought to you by the editors of CNN Space and Science Ashley Strickland And Katie Hunt. They marvel at the planets beyond our solar system and the discoveries of the ancient world.