February 1st, 2021, 3:00PM / BY Abigail Eisenstadt
This is a giant spindle magnetofossil, created by a mysterious creature over 50 million years ago. So far, the iron fossils have only been found during two periods of intense global warming. (Kenneth Livi, Courtney Wagner, and Ioan Lascu)
Deep underneath the ocean’s murky floor, there are iron bullets, needles, and spearheads. But they weren t left there by people. Instead, they are the fossilized remains of unknown organisms who lived millions of years ago through at least two extreme global warming events.
These so-called “giant” magnetofossils are impossible to see with the naked eye. Because of their size, geologists and paleobiologists used to have to study them using a labor intensive and destructive process.
January 29th, 2021, 9:48AM / BY Abigail Eisenstadt
The Tuatara,
Sphenodon punctatus, is a unique reptile found in New Zealand. New research suggests the species has two mitochondrial genomes. (Robert Sprackland)
250 million years ago, many tuataras roamed the world. Now, only one species remains. In fact, the modern tuatara,
Sphenodon punctatus, is the only surviving family member of its taxonomic order,
Rhynchocephalia.
Today, a new paper in
Communications Biology suggests there is something even more remarkable about this little survivor. Scientists have now found that the species may have two mitochondrial genomes, making it unlike any other vertebrate in the world.
All animals have nuclear DNA found in the cell’s nucleus and mitochondrial DNA, located in the so-called cellular “powerhouse,” the mitochondria. By examining both types of genomes, scientists are building pictures of countless species evolution throughout millennia.
All Specs
Google Maps might’ve been the first big navigation app, but that doesn’t mean it’s going to be king of the map apps forever. Eight years after launch, Apple Maps has come close to reaching parity with Google’s offering, backed by Apple’s considerable resources. Heading into 2021, Apple Maps has improved its maps and satellite imagery, cycling navigation, and city-based Guides, and offers a new Look Around feature that rivals Google s Street View. Overall, Apple Maps still trails Google Maps, the PCMag Editors Choice pick for navigation apps, due to a few missing features, but it s clear that Cupertino is all-in on catching up to and surpassing Google.
January 28th, 2021, 6:00AM / BY Anna Torres
Celebrate the Mayan New Year with a Mayan astronomy webinar in Spanish and more in February’s lineup of virtual programs from the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History. ( El Castillo (Pyramid of Kukulcán) in Chichén Itzá by Daniel Schwen, CC BY-SA 4.0)
A virtual science café, an online lecture on coral reproduction and a Mayan Astronomy webinar in Spanish; stream these free programs and more this February through the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History.
How Beetles Adapted to Survive
Feb. 3, 1 p.m. ET Discover the dazzling diversity of beetles with Entomologist Floyd Shockley in a National Museum of Natural History program streaming Feb. 3. (Donald E. Hurlbert, Smithsonian)