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One of worldâs oldest dinosaur fossils revealed by heavy rains in Brazil
July 19, 2024 07:21 AM EST
Heavy rains in the southern state of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, have brought to the surface an incredible discovery that has been hidden for millions of years.
A team led by paleontologist Rodrigo Temp MĂźller from the Federal University of Santa Maria came across a nearly complete fossilized dinosaur skeleton.
Associated Press (AP) reported that the specimen is believed to be one of the worldâs oldest dinosaurs, dating from 233 million years ago.
The remains were recovered from near a reservoir in the Brazilian municipality of Sao Joao do Polesine of the state.
MĂźller told AP that the study team was âsurprisedâ to discover the bones. However, the findings have not yet been peer-reviewed or published in a journal.
The creature lived during the Triassic period, which lasted from 252 million to 201 million years ago. It was the time when all continents were merged into a supercontinent known as Pangea.
Meat-eating dinosaur
In just four days, the team meticulously excavated the site, carefully extracting a block of rock containing the entire skeleton.
This block was then transported to the lab for further analysis.
Based on the fossils, the dinosaur likely measured around 2.5 meters (8.2 feet) long.
âInitially it seemed like just a few isolated bones, but as we exposed the material, we were able to see that we had an almost complete skeleton,â MĂźller told AP.
The Brazillian researchers believe it belongs to the Herrerasauridae family, which includes early apex theropod carnivores that lived during the Triassic period.
Reportedly, the fossilized remains are remarkably well-preserved, and potentially be the second-most complete Herrerasauridae skeleton ever found.
Herrerasauridae is one of the earliest dinosaur families ever identified that dominated parts of what is now Brazil and Argentina. They were the top predators in their ecosystem and went extinct towards the end of this period.
This isnât the first time MĂźllerâs team has unearthed exciting dinosaur finds in this region. Back in 2019, they announced the discovery of another meat-eating dinosaur from the Triassic period.
The remarkably well-preserved remains were found near Santa Maria, Rio Grande do Sul. Notably, this 2019 discovery, named Gnathovorax cabreirai, also belonged to the Herrerasauridae family and lived around the same time as the newly discovered specimen, roughly 233 million years ago.
The specimen could help bridge the evolutionary gap between these early Triassic predators and the later, well-known theropods like Tyrannosaurus Rex. G. cabreirai and the new specimen existed tens of millions of years before these giants.
Rain exposed fossils
The Triassic period played a crucial role in setting the stage for the dominance of dinosaurs in the Jurassic and beyond. It was a period of recovery following a massive extinction catastrophe, accompanied by the emergence of new and diversified living forms.
Over the next few months, the team will conduct an in-depth analysis to determine whether the fossil represents a completely new species or belongs to an already identified one.
As per AP, sometimes rain may help in exposing the fossil as it washes away layers of sediment that have buried these remains for millions of years.
This process, known as weathering, helps bring fossils closer to the surface, making them more likely to be discovered. However, it can also damage or destroy them if theyâre not recovered quickly.
During their excavation, the team discovered several bones, including a leg bone and a pelvic bone, that were already being eroded by the recent heavy rainfall.
Unfortunately, Rio Grande do Sul witnessed heavy flooding this year in May, with a reported death toll of at least 182.
https://interestingengineering.com/science/worlds-oldest-dinosaur-fossil-brazil
NASA scientists left completely stunned by never-before-seen discovery on Mars
UPDATED: 14:54, Fri, Jul 19, 2024
NASA scientists have been left baffled by a "strange and unexpected" discovery on Mars which the space exploration experts can't explain.
The Mars Curiosity Rover has beamed back images from the Red Planet to Earth showing bright yellow crystals that it found after a rock it drove over broke apart.
The bizarre substance on the usually desert-like red surface of Mars has caused excitement because researchers believe it is the element, sulphur.
But unlike the usually rotting-egg-smelling version of the element, which can be found around natural springs and volcanoes on Earth, this sulphur is not believed to emit any odour because it has no impurities.
Curiosityâs project scientist, Ashwin Vasavada of NASAâs Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California, said:
"Finding a field of stones made of pure sulphur is like finding an oasis in the desert.
"It shouldnât be there, so now we have to explain it. Discovering strange and unexpected things is what makes planetary exploration so exciting."
The Curiosity Rover, which has been conducting a mission in this region of Mars since 2023, found the sulphur rocks in a three-mile deep channel close to Mount Sharp, the base of which the rover has been ascending since 2014.
According to the NASA website, "each layer of the mountain represents a different period of Martian history".
It added: "Curiosityâs mission is to study where and when the planetâs ancient terrain could have provided the nutrients needed for microbial life, if any ever formed on Mars."
NASA veteran astronaut Chris Hadfield shared his excitement at the discovery with a post on his X channel. He wrote:
"Mars rover drove over a rock, and it cracked open to reveal pure sulphur crystals. How did they get there?".
https://www.express.co.uk/news/science/1925438/nasa-scientists-mars-discovery-sulphur
New Evidence Adds to Findings Hinting at Network of Caves on Moon
JUL 18, 2024
An international team of scientists using data from NASAâs LRO (Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter) has discovered evidence of caves beneath the Moonâs surface.
In re-analyzing radar data collected by LROâs Mini-RF (Miniature Radio-Frequency) instrument in 2010, the team found evidence of a cave extending more than 200 feet from the base of a pit.
The pit is located 230 miles northeast of the first human landing site on the Moon in Mare Tranquillitatis. The full extent of the cave is unknown, but it could stretch for miles beneath the mare.
Scientists have suspected for decades that there are subsurface caves on the Moon, just like there are on Earth.
Pits that may lead to caves were suggested in images from NASAâs lunar orbiters that mapped the Moonâs surface before NASAâs Apollo human landings.
A pit was then confirmed in 2009 from images taken by JAXAâs (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) Kaguya orbiter, and many have since been found across the Moon through images and thermal measurements of the surface taken by LRO.
NASAâs LRO Finds Lunar Pits Harbor Comfortable Temperatures
âNow the analysis of the Mini-RF radar data tells us how far these caves might extend,â said Noah Petro, LRO project scientist based at NASAâs Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland.
Lunar Pits Could Shelter Astronauts, Reveal Details of How âMan in the Moonâ Formed
Like âlava tubesâ found here on Earth, scientists suspect that lunar caves formed when molten lava flowed beneath a field of cooled lava, or a crust formed over a river of lava, leaving a long, hollow tunnel.
If the ceiling of a solidified lava tube collapses, it opens a pit, like a skylight, that can lead into the rest of the cave-like tube.
https://science.nasa.gov/solar-system/new-evidence-adds-to-findings-hinting-at-network-of-caves-on-moon/
Reebok Teams Up With NASA For Out-Of-This-World Footwear & Apparel Collection
July 17th, 2024
Innovation and setting out into the unknown is a constant theme across the sneaker industry.
While the collaboration between Reebok & NASA may read as an bit unconventional at first glance, the countryâs foremost exploratory agency is fully aligned with those concepts, and the Boston brand is taking notes from their own aesthetics throughout the years.
The two brands are uniting for a footwear & apparel collection that reimagines many of Reebokâs most iconic silhouettes, all set to drop on July 31st.
Weâll begin with the most transformative retooling, the BB1000 II, jumping 1000 years past its 1980s origins.
The shoeâs overall height is increased with a spacesuit-esque embossed leather upper, two opposing stripes of honeycomb mesh and ribbed padding, and a translucent toe-cap to top it all off.
The Club C bears its most radical changes at the laces, supplanting that traditional closure with a full zipper unit.
Additionally, the typical leather construction is absent entirely, replaced with ballistic mesh & nylon, their heavy duty atmosphere foregrounded by ribbed texture on the toe-box and embossed speckles on the midsole.
In all, the overriding theme on this shoe is texture, a major divergence given how mainline Club C drops hang their hat on a timeless, sleek profile.
Finally, we have the Classic Leather Hexalite. Though the uninitiated may read the exposed honeycomb propulsion cut out of the midsole as a thematic change, that section lends theâHexaliteâ tooled model its subtitle even in run-of-the-mill releases.
Instead, the finer details is what truly makes this shoe a âspecial editionâ releases, from the jagged stitching throughout the shoe, to the exposed foam tongue to the serial number stamp that outlines the midsole.
These are the only models thatâve been shared with Sneaker News at the time of writing; Reebok has already tipped off that thereâs at least six additional SKUs set to join this set.
The full NASA Reebok collection launches on July 31st- just ahead youâll catch images & further pricing details for each shoe.
https://sneakernews.com/2024/07/18/nasa-reebok-release-date/
NASA man has one of the weirdest jobs in the world and he's been doing it for 50 years
July 19, 2024
George Aldrich has been working at NASA for more than half a century, currently at its White Sands Test Facility. In 2005, when ABC News visited the facility, his task was to smell a cork NASA hoped to use in a space shuttle. He sniffed the cork and nodded in approval.
But things donât always get approved. When the first American woman in space, Sally Ride, wanted to take her mascara in the spaceship, it was rejected by George as it didnât have the odor appropriate for space.
George works as the chief sniffer for NASA, where he spends his workdays sniffing everything, from books, hats, and glue tubes to spaceships.
As the word broke out, the strangeness of his job started drawing attention from people on the internet.
In 2018, George held an AMA (Ask Me Anything) session on Redditâs group r/space, writing, âI am the âChief Snifferâ and volunteer âNasalnautâ for NASA.
I smell objects before they go up to crewed space missions.â
The goal of his job, he said, was to check for disagreeable or offensive smells that may nauseate astronauts and possibly put astronautâs productivity and mission at risk.
"Astronauts could actually get sick from being subjected to obnoxious odors," George said.
Susana Harper, manager of NASA's nasal lab, explained the process to the Science Channel, saying, âWhen weâre in the space station or the shuttle, there is no additional air.
We donât open a window and get some fresh air in there. What we have to do here on the ground is verify that weâre not sending new odors up there.
Because once theyâre up there, theyâre stuck there.â Even the faintest of smells can linger in space for years, and can sometimes make astronauts sick.
The smell test was initiated after the Apollo 1 mission in 1967 when a fire erupted in the spacecraft during a launch rehearsal and unfortunately, caused the deaths of three astronauts.
Plus, Russians too had to abort a mission in 1976 because of an unbearable stench in their spacecraft.
Thatâs when NASA decided to do material testing, especially in 100 percent oxygen environments.
Test #1 was to check flammability, Test #6 for odor, and Test #7 was toxicity, explained George in a Reddit comment.
Others in the thread asked George hilarious questions. u/rmshackleford asked how astronauts deal with the smell of flatulence in space, to which he replied that they canât do anything about it, and sometimes humans just stink.
Someone else asked, âWhat is your favorite smell in the world?â George answered, âOdor-free is fine by me.â
In addition to George, the smell test is usually carried out by a panel of four other volunteers.
Each expert does a blind smell test of each material and object, ranking it from 0 to 4. Anything over 2.5 fails the test and is not added to the list of things to be sent to space.
In case the sniffing experts have a cold, runny nose or sore throat, they have an on-site nurse who comes up and checks their nose before they go in and smell.
If they have a pre-existing condition, the nurse doesnât allow them to take the smell test.
âI've been tested more than 900 times; I think have failed twice,â revealed George in a Reddit comment.
Owing to his strange job and impeccable sense of smell, George has been featured on Stan Lee's âSuperhumans.â
He has also been a guest on Inverse.com's podcast âI Need My Space,â and a recipient of NASAâs Silver Snoopy Award, per IFL Science. The master sniffer, nicknamed âNostrilDamusâ and "Nasalnaut" by his team, has also served as a judge in Odor-Eaters' Rotten Sneaker Contest.
"My friends and family think I'm a little crazy," he quipped while speaking to the Science Channel.
https://www.good.is/meet-nas-as-nasalnaut-who-might-have-the-weirdest-yet-one-of-the-most-important-jobs
https://www.insidehook.com/internet/space-force-wants-you-gamers
The Space Force Wants You, Gamers
July 19, 2024 6:10 am
Thereâs a branch of the U.S. military ordered to protect the nationâs satellite network and defend the country against attack from beyond the sky, making sure everything from cellular communications to the digital economy remains operational â and theyâre looking to gamers to lead their charge.
Most Americans know very little about the U.S. Space Force, the sixth branch of the countryâs military, joining the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines and Coast Guard.
Admittedly, its name sounds like the title of a 1950s sci-fi radio show, but its theoretical history dates back to the end of the Second World War as the U.S. accelerated its rocket programs.
Though officially installed in 2019 under then-President Donald Trump, you can trace the Space Forceâs developmental path back through the Obama Administration to the Reagan-era concept of the Star Wars defense initiative, all the way to the Eisenhower era.
With China and other potential adversaries eyeing everything from bases on the moon to orbital weapons platforms, the Space Force has aggressively amped up its operations with the following officially stated mission duties: Provide freedom of operation for the United States in, from and to space; conduct space operations; protect the interests of the U.S. in space; and deter aggression in, from and to space.
To make sure the world learns about the Space Force and understands its function, the nonprofit Space Force Association (SFA) came together to tell the serviceâs stories and celebrate its personnel.
Garfield Reeves-Stevens is one half of a highly successful writing and producing team with his wife, Judith. Together they now serve as story and technical consultants for the SFA.
Co-producers on the fourth season of the Star Trek series, Enterprise, the Reeves-Stevenses also developed, produced or wrote for Batman: The Animated Series, Phantom 2040, Flash Gordon, G.I. Joe and Primeval: New World.
Meanwhile, their multiple tech-thriller novels put them on the New York Times and Los Angeles Times best-sellers lists. With Space Force, their flare for fiction has transitioned to describing some very real threats.
âSpace Force is absolutely crucial,â says Garfield. âSo much of modern warfare is centered on space-based assets.
Meanwhile, we live in a space-based civilization from communications satellites, to the GPS system that controls shipping, to banking networks.â
While most of what the Space Force does remains highly classified, Reeves-Stevens adds that the service draws from an unusual talent pool compared to the other military branches.
Their recruits â called Guardians â are both tech-savvy and imaginative, and include coders, hackers and gaming enthusiasts.
âObviously, we canât look up and see satellites,â he says. âSpace Force needs Guardians who think conceptually to operate in an active, strategic space. Gamers are perfect for that.â
Space Force First Sergeant Mike Sullivan began his military career in the Air Force, coordinating their space capabilities at U.S. Strategic Command before becoming a Guardian.
He credits the simple excitement of influencing the development of a new military service, coupled with taking on the unknown, for urging on his decision.
Importantly, from the perspective of his Space Force training, heâs a gamer.
âDue to current family and work commitments, I consider myself to be a casual gamer,â Sullivan says. âI will still put a few hours into playing video games where possible, but nothing compared to my dedication to gaming a few years ago.
Previously I would have told you that I was a âhardcoreâ gamer, meaning I put in significant time to various game titles and had a seriously competitive attitude.â
Sullivan spends more time on role-playing games these days, and the occasional mobile game when his schedule allows. He wouldnât say that gaming alone prepared him for military service.
Still, he insists the time spent playing them throughout his military career kept his thinking skills sharp, while developing social networks that are key to maintaining a successful career and a cohesive military organization.
âIâd break down gaming in the Space Force into two categories: fun and âserious games,ââ he explains. âFun is exactly what you think, but at a massive scale.
A few years ago, myself and others were on a mission to convince the Air Force (since Space Force didnât exist yet) to host and fund a gaming community for the service.
Today, that community is Air/Space Force Gaming and hosts 41,000 Airmen and Guardians around the world.â
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Sullivan explains that the âwhyâ of promoting community gaming is to build organic camaraderie and connection, whether via video games, RPGs, or tabletop and board games.
He emphasizes that those connections break through traditional communication barriers that can be present when wearing the uniform. All participants share the experience of service and a passion for gaming.
As for Sullivanâs âserious games,â he describes them as more practical and aimed at building a better fighter in the real world.
âThe concept of âserious gamesâ and gamification of defense is the idea of leveraging gaming, game technologies and the community of gamers to advance our military,â he adds.
âThat gaming extends beyond just AR/VR/XR, which are used prolifically throughout military training and operations for realism and relevancy.
Even something as simple as using a team-based, commercially developed video game to teach basic leadership skills like communication, resource management, etc., becomes useful.â
According to Sullivan, the Space Force established itself as a âdigital service,â conducting many of its operations in that arena.
âFor the future, that means an even deeper dive into exploring how âserious gamesâ can bring a positive impact to how we operate as a service,â he says.
âAnd, of course, gaming for fun will never die, so the need for these social communities like Space Force Gaming will only increase as each new recruit or digital native raises their hand to serve in the U.S. Space Force.â
As the SFA director of volunteer support, Diane Wardâs work focuses on educating and inspiring those digital natives â teaching students about space in the hope of creating aerospace professionals and potential Guardians of the future.
âWe start with middle grade and high school students, some international,â Ward says. âWe see no reason to wait until theyâre 22 or 23 years old since theyâre already really good with technology.
A lot of these kids might be the nerdiest ones at school, and they may get picked on sometimes. Itâs important they get to see what they can do now and in the future in the digital space.â
Ward highlighted the SFA Creator League as a key element in the development of potential Guardians. Headed up by Sergeant Sullivan, the league uses a coding environment where participants compete not by playing games, but by collaboratively building the software for new ones.
âI got involved in the Space Force Association because my own kids are interested in being Guardians someday,â Ward added. âI decided this was important and got involved myself.â
Reeves-Stevens is crystal clear on the importance of the relatively new military branch. As he reports, an immediate threat that the Space Force is focused on is hostile space actions by Russia, China and North Korea.
âWhile much of what Space Force does is âburn your eyes outâ classified, it would like to make clear to the country what the threats really are to our civilization,â he says.
âSpace Force remains the arm of the military that will protect access of going into space, operating in space and returning from space â and not just for the U.S., but for its allies.â
He stresses that, to keep the Space Force nimble and progressing in its mission, its top brass wants the creative minds of gamers.
Those are the young professionals who can perceive, deduce and create swiftly enough in a dangerous environment to effectively respond to rapidly evolving threats.
âThe most interesting aspect to us, as people who write about the military and study the military, is Space Force operates under a much different model,â he explains.
âThe command wants people who constantly question the status quo. You will rarely hear that in the military as the other branches of the service focus on chain of command.
Space Force operates so quickly and so critically they need to get operational authority down as low as possible. They need to be lean and responsive.â
Thatâs where gamers who can hold a 3D environment in their heads come in, whether theyâre playing first-person shooters, real-time strategy or world-exploration titles.
Reeves-Stevens stresses that a young mind that can operate in those worlds and can enjoy operating there at high speed is perfect for, say, taking the seat of a satellite operator in the Space Force.
He says those seats need to be filled now, even if the public doesnât fully understand the constant threats they face.
âThatâs why Space Force is so important,â he adds. âAll it would take is, say, the Russians or Chinese to detonate an EMP [electromagnetic pulse] in the upper atmosphere, and weâd all be back living in the 1950s.â
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Lou Dobbs, Space.com founder, former CNN and Fox host, dies at 78
July 19, 2024
Lou Dobbs, the distinguished political pundit, bestselling author, radio host and popular broadcast fixture on CNN and Fox Business News has died at the age of 78.
The official launch on July 20, 1999 was chosen as being the 30th anniversary of NASA's historic Apollo 11 moon landing.
He served as Space.com's first CEO and one of its majority shareholders until 2001 when he stepped down from his post and returned to CNN.
Dobbs' death was confirmed Thursday (July 18) in a post on his his official account on X (formerly Twitter). "It is with a heavy heart that we announce the passing of 'the Great Lou Dobbs.'
Lou was a fighter till [sic] the very end - fighting for what mattered to him most," the post stated.
Dobbs was born on Sept. 24, 1945 in Childress County, Texas but the family relocated to Rupert, Idaho where he spent most of his formative years. In 1967 he graduated from Harvard University, earning a BA in Economics, before heading back to Idaho where he married his first wife, Kathy Wheeler. After stints in the 1970s as a local television reporter and anchor in Phoenix and Seattle, billionaire Ted Turner lassoed him as on-air talent for his new CNN cable news enterprise.
The seasoned TV news host of "Moneyline" and "Lou Dobbs Tonight" was a favorite conservative political analyst and commentator that began his tenure with CNN as an economics correspondent when that network first launched in 1980.
He remained one of the network's major anchors until migrating over to Fox Business News in 2009. In 2021, Fox News Media yanked his program due to his controversial comments on rampant voter fraud in the Biden-Trump 2020 election.
Back in July of 1999, Dobbs and Rich Zahradnik were the primary founders of Space.com, the online destination targeting news relating to human spaceflight, space exploration, astronomy, search-for-life, and space-based sci-fi entertainment that's celebrating its 25th anniversary this month.
"We will serve the largest unrecognized community on the Web," Dobbs told Daily Variety in 1999. "Space.com is the first mover on the Web in this category. We have the premium brand in space."
In 2001 Atria published Dobbs' prescient novel, "Space: The Next Business Frontier," which accurately predicted the vital role private enterprise would play in outer space's lucrative future and the unlimited growth potential of space commerce that we now see blossoming before us today.
Dobbs is survived by his wife Debi and multiple children and grandchildren.
https://www.space.com/lou-dobbs-space-dot-com-co-founder-obituary