New 508-million-year-old bristle worm species from British Columbia's Burgess Shale wiggles into evolutionary history
Researchers at the Royal Ontario Museum and the University of Toronto have described an exceptionally well-preserved new fossil species of bristle worm called Kootenayscolex barbarensis. Discovered from the 508-million-year-old Marble Canyon fossil site in the Burgess Shale in Kootenay National Park, British Columbia, the new species helps rewrite our understanding of the origin of the head in annelids, a highly diverse group of animals which includes today's leeches and earthworms. This research was published today in the journal Current Biology in the article A New Burgess Shale Polychaete and the Origin of the Annelid Head Revisited.
Source: https://phys.org/news/2018-01-million-year-old-bristle-worm-species-british.html
Research helps break ground to clean up land
Researchers at Swansea University's Complex Flow Lab have been exploring the intricate shapes that emerge when air is injected into soil. Published in Physical Review Applied, these findings could one day be used to speed up the decontamination of industrial brownfield sites—which the United Kingdom currently has over 400,000 hectares of.
Source: https://phys.org/news/2018-01-ground.html
Digging deep into distinctly different DNA
A University of Queensland discovery has deepened our understanding of the genetic mutations that arise in different tissues, and how these are inherited.
Source: https://phys.org/news/2018-01-deep-distinctly-dna.html
Study shows first evidence of winds outside black holes throughout their mealtimes
New research shows the first evidence of strong winds around black holes throughout bright outburst events when a black hole rapidly consumes mass.
Source: https://phys.org/news/2018-01-evidence-black-holes-mealtimes.html
New for three types of extreme-energy space particles: Theory shows unified origin
New model connects the origins of very high-energy neutrinos, ultrahigh-energy cosmic rays, and high-energy gamma rays with black-hole jets embedded in their environments.
Source: https://phys.org/news/2018-01-extreme-energy-space-particles-theory.html
Engineers design artificial synapse for 'brain-on-a-chip' hardware
When it comes to processing power, the human brain just can't be beat.
Source: https://phys.org/news/2018-01-artificial-synapse-brain-on-a-chip-hardware.html
Source: https://phys.org/