Tyrannosaurus extinct again in Holocene
Tyrannosaurus extinct again in Holocene
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The fifth most complete specimen of Tyrannosaurus Rex (STAN) with the best-preserved skull ever discovered is now bereaved from scientific research after being sold to a private bidder in a recent auction for $31.8 million. STAN was discovered and excavated in 1992 by Black Hills Institute (BHI) and was on display in the BHI museum until 2020, seen by many visitors and studied by numerous paleontologists. Auctioning of STAN reminds us of the story of SUE, another immaculate T-rex specimen discovered and excavated by BHI, later seized by the FBI and then auctioned. Luckily SUE was bought for $8.3 Million by the Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago, in 1997. Since then, it has been the source of excitement and curiosity among people who come to see it and scientists who study it. Unfortunately, STAN's fate has sunk by avarice and political megalomania.
"Mystery Solved: STAN the T-rex purchased by natural history museum, UAE "
Last of their kind on the planet
Last of their kind on the planet
Living under 24 hours of armed protection at the Ol Pejeta conservancy in Kenya, Najin, and Fatu, are the last two surviving members of the Northern white rhinoceros species on earth. Najin and Fatu are both females; the last male Northern white rhinoceros "Sudan" died in 2018, making the species functionally extinct. The tragic story of illegal hunting and poaching of rhinos for several years is a classic example of how humans are triggering the Holocene mass extinction. However, a ray of hope for the resurgence of species is alive, and research is going on to create embryos using frozen sperm of Sudan and place them in female southern white rhino using surrogacy. Donate at https://rhinos.org/donate/ to support this effort.
The accelerating universe
The accelerating universe
In 1929, observational cosmologist Edwin Hubble discovered that universe is expanding. Using a powerful telescope, he observed that farther the galaxy is, faster it is receding away from us. In fact, every object which is not gravitationally bound to others is receding away, thus universe is expanding but there is no center of expansion. Since Hubble published his discovery it was a long-held belief in scientific community that universe is expanding now but will slow down due to mutual gravitational attraction between galaxies. The expansion will eventually stop and then will reverse back to a big crunch.
With an aim of measuring this deceleration, two separate research teams led by Prof. Brian Schmidt & Prof. Adam Riess (High-Z Supernova team) and Prof. Saul Perlmutter (Supernova cosmology project team) observed far away galaxies and measured their distances and recession velocities. They looked for Type la supernovae to measure the distance and red shift of far away galaxies.
Both the teams discovered that universe is not slowing down, but rather the expansion is accelerating. According to current understanding of the universe (ΛCDM model of the universe) there is another form of matter called Dark-energy which makes up 70% of the universe and is responsible for causing this expansion to accelerate. Brian Schmidt, Saul Perlmutter and Adam Riess were awarded 2011 Nobel Prize in physics for their discovery.
Planet nine in outer solar system
Planet nine in outer solar system
Discovery of multiple trans-Neptunian objects (objects orbiting Sun with orbit larger than Neptune) between 1992-2006 including large asteroids and some dwarf planets which are even bigger than Pluto, confirmed the presence of a second asteroid belt in the outer solar system. The asteroid belt was named “Kuiper belt” after astronomer Gerard Peter Kuiper. This new discovery resulted in reclassification of Pluto from a Planetary status to a dwarf planet in 2006.
Astrophysicist Prof. Konstantin Batygin and Prof. Michael Brown from Caltech, observed an odd clustering of orbits of some Kuiper belt objects in a particular direction. In their recently published article, they suggested the presence of a Ninth planet with mass 10 times that of earth orbiting in a highly elliptical orbit around the sun with a orbital period of 15 to 20 thousand years. They computationally explained how the presence of a ninth planet could explain the weird clustering of orbits of these trans-Neptunian Kuiper belt objects.
Semi-aquatic adaptations in a Theropod Dinosaur
Semi-aquatic adaptations in a Theropod Dinosaur
A theropod dinosaur, once roaming the part of Africa where now Sahara desert exist is the largest predatory dinosaur ever discovered. Spinosaurus aegyptiacus is believed to be bigger than other large theropod predatory dinosaurs including T-rex, Giganotosaurus and Carcharodontosaurus. Spinosaurus can be easily and distinctly identified by its long snout and a giant sail with long neural spines as long as 2 meters. Spinosaurus was initially believed to be bipedal with longer hindlimbs but recent discovery showed that Spinosaurus had shorter hindlimbs which shows that the dinosaur was quadrupedal. Recently published article by paleontologist Nizar Ibrahim showed evidences of Spinosaurus to possess a fin like tail with elongated neural spine helping the dinosaur to swim effectively in water. This evidence reveals a more aquatic adapted life style of this giant from Sahara.
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