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Category: evolution – Page 17

Astronomers discover new giant molecular cloud in the Milky Way

Using the Green Bank Telescope (GBT), astronomers have detected a new giant molecular cloud in the Milky Way galaxy. The newfound cloud has a size of nearly 200 light years and its mass is estimated to be some 160,000 solar masses. The finding was reported in a paper published March 18 on the arXiv preprint server.

Molecular clouds are huge complexes of interstellar gas and left over from the formation of galaxies, composed mostly of . Molecular clouds with masses greater than 100,000 solar masses are called (GMCs). In general, GMCs are 15–600 light years in diameter and are the coldest and densest parts of the interstellar medium.

GMCs are gas reservoirs where most takes place. Therefore, studying their lifecycle and characteristics is crucial to advancing our knowledge about the formation and evolution of galaxies.

A Super Fungus Is Evolving in Polluted Cities — And It’s Spreading Through Cats

A deadly fungal epidemic in Brazil is evolving fast: pollution, cats, and genetics may be fueling its unstoppable spread.

Brazil is facing the world’s largest and most persistent sporotrichosis epidemic, a fungal infection spread primarily through cats. A new study reveals an alarming genetic diversity in the fungus, suggesting that urban pollutants may be accelerating its evolution. Researchers identified molecular markers that could enhance diagnostics and treatments, while also highlighting the rapid adaptation and virulence of Sporothrix brasiliensis.

Unraveling the Largest Sporotrichosis Epidemic.

Consciousness is quantum mechanical

Consciousness is one of the most fundamental aspects of our existence, but it remains barely understood, even defined. Across the world scholars of many disciplines — philosophy, science, social science, theology — are joined on a quest to understand this phenomenon.

Tune into one of the more original and controversial thinkers at the forefront of consciousness research, Stuart Hameroff, as he presents his ideas. Hameroff is an anaesthesiologist who, alongside Roger Penrose, proposes that the source of consciousness is structural, produced from a certain shape in our brain. He expands on this, and much more (such as evolution), in this talk. Have a listen!

To witness such topics discussed live buy tickets for our upcoming festival: https://howthelightgetsin.org/festivals/

Scientists think they discovered what existed before the Big Bang

In the 1930s, researchers first noticed oddities in how galaxies moved, suggesting something invisible exerted gravitational pull. Decades later, studies of the cosmic microwave background —the lingering radiation from the universe’s birth—confirmed dark matter’s importance in shaping cosmic evolution.

A pivotal study by the Planck Collaboration in 2018 revealed that dark matter makes up roughly 27% of the universe’s total energy. By comparison, ordinary matter—the stuff of planets, stars, and us—accounts for only 5%.

Scientists have spent decades trying to understand what dark matter might be. Supersymmetry, a popular theory in particle physics, proposes a “partner” particle for every known particle, potentially offering clues about dark matter’s identity.

Scientists Just Found the Secret Difference Between Human and Primate Brains

Researchers discovered uniquely human neuroanatomical features in a study comparing human brains to macaque and chimpanzee brains.

A groundbreaking study reveals that what makes humans unique isn’t just intelligence but also emotional and social cognition. Comparing brain scans of humans, chimpanzees, and macaques, researchers found that key brain connections related to emotions and social interactions are distinctly human, highlighting the deep-rooted role of relationships in human evolution.

What makes the human brain unique?

Cosmic anomaly hints at frightening future for Milky Way

A terrifying glimpse at one potential fate of our Milky Way galaxy has come to light thanks to the discovery of a cosmic anomaly that challenges our understanding of the universe.

An international team of astronomers led by CHRIST University, Bangalore, found that a massive spiral galaxy almost 1 billion light-years away from Earth harbors a supermassive black hole billions of times the sun’s mass which is powering colossal radio jets stretching 6 million light-years across.

That is one of the largest known for any spiral galaxy and upends conventional wisdom of galaxy evolution, because such powerful jets are almost exclusively found in , not spirals.

DESI releases largest 3D map of the universe to date

The Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI) is mapping millions of celestial objects to better understand dark energy—the mysterious driver of our universe’s accelerating expansion. Today, the DESI collaboration released a new collection of data for anyone in the world to investigate.

The dataset is the largest of its kind, with information on 18.7 million objects: roughly 4 million stars, 13.1 million galaxies, and 1.6 million quasars (extremely bright but distant objects powered by supermassive black holes at their cores).

While the experiment’s main mission is illuminating , DESI’s Data Release 1 (DR1) could yield discoveries in other areas of astrophysics, such as the evolution of galaxies and black holes, the nature of dark matter, and the structure of the Milky Way.

NASA’s Next Mission Could Finally Solve the Mystery of Our Solar System’s Edge

The heliosphere, a cosmic bubble formed by the Sun, protects our solar system from interstellar threats and influences life’s evolution. Despite its vital role, its true shape remains a puzzle, with data from Voyager missions hinting at its complexities. Upcoming interstellar probes aim to uncover more about this mysterious region.

The Sun does more than just warm the Earth, making it habitable for people and animals. It also shapes a vast region of space. This region, known as the heliosphere, extends more than a hundred times the distance between the Sun and Earth, influencing everything within it.

As a star, the Sun constantly emits a flow of charged particles called the solar wind, a stream of energized plasma.

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