shed

DNA Shed by Deep-Sea Organisms Reveals a Dark Abyss Teeming With Tiny Life Forms

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Sweeping the ocean floor at hundreds of points throughout the world, researchers have revealed an astonishing diversity of microscopic life thriving in the deepest and darkest parts of our planet.   The sediment collected at each spot was analyzed for environmental DNA (eDNA), which marine animals shed as they go about their lives. While sea … Read more

Exoplanet evolution? Mini-Neptunes may shed their atmospheres and become super-Earths

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New research suggests that stellar radiation is stripping away the “fluffy” atmospheres of exoplanets slightly smaller than Neptune, leaving behind their rocky cores and transforming them into worlds more closely resembling Earth.  In the 1990s, astronomers confirmed the existence of planets outside the solar system. Known as exoplanets, they are one of the most fascinating … Read more

Streams of stars orbiting the Milky Way shed light on galaxy’s dark matter

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Stellar groupings orbiting in the outskirts of the Milky Way shed new light on the evolution of our galaxy as well as the elusive dark matter that surrounds it. Scientists from the Carnegie Institution for Science mapped a dozen associations of stars that orbit within the gaseous halo that envelopes our galaxy, the Milky Way. … Read more

Fossils: Spider remains shed light on Australia’s ancient rainforest ecosystem

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A suite of plant and animal fossils from a site in New South Wales date back about 16 million years to a time when the region was blanketed in lush rainforests Life 7 January 2022 By Chen Ly Fossil of a mygalomorph spider from the McGraths Flat, Australia Michael Frese An immaculately preserved fossil of … Read more