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Possibly the weirdest planet yet discovered?

Newfound world 2M1510 (AB) b appears to orbit not one but two stars...and they are actually failed stars, known as brown dwarfs...and the planet orbits sideways, in a unique up-and-down polar orbit.

https://www.eso.org/public/news/eso2508/ #space #science #astronomy #nature

Left: This image, taken in visible light, shows 2M1510 AB, a pair of brown dwarfs orbiting each other. The two brown dwarfs, A and B, are seen as a single source in this image, but we know there are two of them because they periodically eclipse each other. When monitoring their orbits, astronomers found perturbations that can only be explained by the gravitational tug of an exoplanet circling both brown dwarfs in a perpendicular orbit. This system contains a third brown dwarf, 2M1510 C, which is located too far away to be responsible for these perturbations.

Right: This is an artist’s impression of the exoplanet 2M1510 (AB) b’s unusual orbit around its host stars, a pair of brown dwarfs. The newly discovered planet has a polar orbit, which is perpendicular to the plane in which the two stars are traveling.
Left: This image, taken in visible light, shows 2M1510 AB, a pair of brown dwarfs orbiting each other. The two brown dwarfs, A and B, are seen as a single source in this image, but we know there are two of them because they periodically eclipse each other. When monitoring their orbits, astronomers found perturbations that can only be explained by the gravitational tug of an exoplanet circling both brown dwarfs in a perpendicular orbit. This system contains a third brown dwarf, 2M1510 C, which is located too far away to be responsible for these perturbations. Right: This is an artist’s impression of the exoplanet 2M1510 (AB) b’s unusual orbit around its host stars, a pair of brown dwarfs. The newly discovered planet has a polar orbit, which is perpendicular to the plane in which the two stars are traveling.

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It's been an exciting couple weeks for the exploration of planets around other stars.

A new report reveals that Barnard's star (closest single star to the Sun) has a whole system of planets.

People have been seeking planets there since the '60s. Now we've found them--four rocky worlds, 1/4 the mass of Earth, in tight orbits around their tiny red star.

https://noirlab.edu/public/news/noirlab2510/ #space #science #nature

This animation shows the orbital dynamics of the Barnard’s Star planetary system. For a century, astronomers have been studying Barnard’s Star in the hope of finding planets around it. First discovered by E. E. Barnard at Yerkes Observatory in 1916, it is the nearest single star system to Earth. Now, using in part the Gemini North telescope, one half of the International Gemini Observatory, partly funded by the U.S. National Science Foundation and operated by NSF NOIRLab, astronomers have discovered four sub-Earth exoplanets orbiting the star. One of the planets is the least massive exoplanet ever discovered using the radial velocity technique, indicating a new benchmark for discovering smaller planets around nearby stars.

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"Baker noted that "there's long been this very human-centric idea of intelligence that only humans are intelligent." That's fallen away within the scientific community as we've studied more about animal behavior. But there's still a bias to privilege human-like behaviors."
https://arstechnica.com/science/2025/03/ai-versus-the-brain-and-the-race-for-general-intelligence/?utm_brand=arstechnica&utm_social-type=owned&utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=social

A #longread by @arstechnica about the #anthropocentric #bias of #AGI and #AI companies - money versus nature.

#brain #science #moreThanHuman #animals #intelligence #anthropocene #nature

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NASA's Lucy mission is named after the famed hominid fossil.

Lucy (the spacecraft) just got its first look at 4-km-wide asteroid Donaldjohanson, named after the anthropologist who co-discovered Lucy's remains.

https://www.nasa.gov/centers-and-facilities/goddard/nasas-lucy-spacecraft-takes-its-1st-images-of-asteroid-donaldjohanson/ #space #science #nature

Donaldjohanson. The asteroid is outlined with a square in the right image to guide the eye. Credit: NASA/Goddard/SwRI/Johns Hopkins APL

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Ever since a PhD student introduced me to the idea, stolonization has been haunting my waking hours. Now it can haunt yours too: some annelid worms develop a gamete-filled structure (stolon), which detaches and swims to find a mate. Some stolons have eyes, antennae, and nervous system 🤯

The image shows female (left) and male (right) stolons which detach from their seafloor-dwelling 'parent' organism and swim to seek each other out.

#science #nature #worms

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Please welcome the journal Historical Biology to Mastodon and give them a follow: @HistoricalBiology

The journal "Publishes papers on developments in the sciences concerning the history of life through geological time and the biology of past organisms."

#science #paleontology #biology#HistoricalBiology #fossils #geology#EarthScience #nature

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The #rewilded #GolfCourses teeming with life

Jocelyn Timperley, February 14, 2025

"From #Scotland to #California, golf courses are being rewilded – with lofty aims to benefit both people and #nature.

"Sinking into nature comes easy at the #PlockOfKyle. I visit this tiny wedge of parkland on the west coast of Scotland, just across the bridge from the Isle of Skye, on a rainy day in late September, and park ranger Heather Beaton and I spend the afternoon wandering around its various #ecosystems-in-miniature.

"We clamber over rocks at one of its little hidden natural harbours. We freeze as black darter dragonflies land on her pink shoe by a pond. And we bend to peer at circles of huge mushrooms which have sprung up overnight in its tiny woodland.

"A #WildflowerMeadow, ponds, scrub habitat, coastline and even an area of peat bog can be found on this little 60-acre (24-hectare) plot, which boasts roe deer, otters, lizards, eels and a huge array of insects and birds. 'We do describe it as a microcosm of Scotland,' says Beaton. 'If you think of all of the major habitats of Scotland, we've got them here on the Plock, just in miniature.' It's an impression she works to cultivate. 'The more little pockets we have, the more chance a person has to... end up having a nature experience,' she says.

"All of these habitats had fallen into serious disarray until a few years ago, says Beaton. In fact, most of this area used to be a golf course.

"The Plock is part of a small but significant global trend of land once used for golf being turned back over to nature. From #California to #Pennsylvania and #Australia to #Canada, these projects are reaping in some big rewards for both #biodiversity and local people."

Read more:
https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20250214-from-scotland-to-california-the-rewilded-golf-courses-where-wildlife-thrives?utm_source=firefox-newtab-en-us
#Biodiversity#SolarPunkSunday #RestoreNature

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A short break from #BugoftheYear content to share with you the delight that is Pauropods!

These tiny relatives of millipedes possess unique branching 'biramous' antennae, and feed on fungi and organic matter. They’re found in leaf litter, soil, and under stones and logs - but at <2 mm length you’ll struggle to spot them!

#Invertebrate#Myriapoda#Nature#Entomology #Macrophotography #SoilBiodiversity#SoilEcology #SoilFauna

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Intriguing "hey, that's weird" discovery: Astronomers have found 14 asteroids that seeming move under their own power.

These objects are classified as "dark comets." Presumably they are emitting puffs of gas that shifts their orbits. But ...so far, nobody can spot any sign of activity.

https://www.nasa.gov/solar-system/comets/nasa-researchers-discover-more-dark-comets/ #space #science #astronomy #nature

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Astronomers are closing in on a radically new kind of cosmic map--a map that shows the universe in gravitational waves.

The process is hard. This new, preliminary version is uncertain. But we're seeing a fresh view of reality come into focus.

https://www.spaceaustralia.com/feature/mapping-gravitational-wave-universe #space #science #astronomy #nature