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In the Wasatch Mountains of the western US on the slopes above a spring-fed lake, there dwells a single giant organism t...
10/03/2023

In the Wasatch Mountains of the western US on the slopes above a spring-fed lake, there dwells a single giant organism that provides an entire ecosystem on which plants and animals have relied for thousands of years.

Found in my home state of Utah, "Pando" is a 106-acre stand of quaking aspen clones.

Although it looks like a woodland of individual trees with striking white bark and small leaves that flutter in the slightest breeze, Pando (Latin for "I spread") is actually 47,000 genetically identical stems that arise from an interconnected root network.

Molecules, including proteins, are thought to have started putting together simple organisms some 3.8 billion years ago,...
07/03/2023

Molecules, including proteins, are thought to have started putting together simple organisms some 3.8 billion years ago, so there's a stretch of earlier Earth history that scientists have been very keen to look into.

The team behind the study suggests that the 10 'later' amino acids, in particular, were selected for their protein-folding capabilities, enabling the replication of DNA and the production of proteins that sparked life into being.

This research can teach us more about the potential for microorganisms on other planets and our own: The same amino acids that came to Earth via meteorites can also be found in many other places in the Universe.

However mythical these ancient accounts might seem on the surface, scientists could still learn something from them toda...
03/03/2023

However mythical these ancient accounts might seem on the surface, scientists could still learn something from them today.

In a translation of a 2,000-year-old Greek text on aspidochelone, for instance, the mythical whale is said to exhale a 'good-smelling' odor that attracts smaller fish.

Whereas in the Norwegian manuscript cited earlier, the whale is said to expel its own bile as bait to draw the fishies in.

According to experts, humpbacks and Bryde's whales can both regurgitate during feeding. When these two whales eat, they are also said to smell of dimethyl sulfide, an odor we often associate with rotten cabbage.

Today, it is cataloged in only two whale species on opposite sides of the world. But there's a chance it was more common...
03/03/2023

Today, it is cataloged in only two whale species on opposite sides of the world. But there's a chance it was more common in the past.

"We found that the more fantastical accounts of this sea monster were relatively recent, dating to the 17th and 18th centuries, and there has been a lot of speculation amongst scientists about whether these accounts might have been provoked by natural phenomena, such as optical illusions or underwater volcanoes," says Erin Sebo, who researches medieval literature at Flinders.

"In fact, the behavior described in medieval texts, which seemed so unlikely, is simply whale behavior that we had not observed but medieval and ancient people had."

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