New way to detect gravitational waves

Astronomers could be on the verge of detecting gravitational waves using rapidly spinning stars called pulsars for the first time. The waves could show up as tiny variations in the frequency of the radio signals emitted by the stars. The technique could allow astronomers to observe the ripples in space-time caused by distant supermassive black holes that are millions or even billions of times larger than those spotted so far. The International Pulsar Timing Array (IPTA) collaboration has not yet found conclusive evidence of these gravitational waves, but it has detected a background signal hinting that researchers are progressing in the right direction.

Everyday objects can run artificial intelligence programs

Physicists have built neural networks by combining objects instead of using silicon chips. They work by taking advantage of the inherent physical properties of mechanical systems — such as the vibration of a metal plate.

A Nitrogen-Fixing Seagrass Discovered

Seagrass (Posidonia oceanica) has formed a symbiotic relationship with a marine bacterium in order to acquire an essential nutrient: nitrogen. It’s a survival strategy that has never before been seen in an aquatic plant. The seagrass co-evolved with the newly described microbe, Celerinatantimonas neptuna, similarly to how legumes solved the same conundrum on land. The discovery explains how seagrass can form vast meadows in coastal environments around the globe — and helps us to understand the best places to restore degraded ecosystems.

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Evolutionary change does not happen 'in order to' (purpose) but 'because' (reason and result).

Did a mega drought topple empires 4,200 years ago?

In Mesopotamia in about 2200 BC, a mega drought lasted for decades or possibly even centuries. The drought might have contributed to the collapse of the Akkadian Empire, in what is now Syria and Iraq. But the drought’s extent is a matter of debate. Palæoclimatologists are working to pin down more details, which could hold clues to the kinds of natural droughts the world might face that could greatly exacerbate the impacts of climate change.

Ancient Crab Had Unusually Huge Eyes

A crab that paddled the ocean 95 million years ago had unusually keen vision thanks to its colossal bulbous eyes, according to a new study. The crab, Callichimaera perplexa, was only a few centimetres across but was probably a sharp-eyed predator.

Hippo talk: study sheds light on purpose of call and response

Hippopotamuses recognise the voices of their pod-mates and members of nearby pods, and respond more territorially to strangers, according to a study in Mozambique. Scientists recorded and broadcast hippo “wheeze honks”, which sound like deep, resonant grunts. Animals were more likely to respond aggressively by spraying larger amounts of dung when they heard strangers. This suggests that if a hippo needs to be relocated for conservation reasons, it might help to make the local hippos a sort of ‘mix tape’ of the new hippo’s voice for them to listen to in advance, and vice versa.

Earliest known human-made hybrid animal

A donkey-like animal that was highly prized by Mesopotamian elites might be the earliest known hybrid animal bred by humans. Researchers analysed the genome of these ‘kungas’, found buried alongside early Bronze Age royals in what is now Syria. The animals were the offspring of a female donkey (Equus africanus asinus) and a male Syrian wild ass (Equus hemionus hemippus), sometimes called a hemippe. The finding supports cuneiform texts that depict kungas as the product of complex animal husbandry programmes.

Vast Cosmic Bubble Around the Sun Identified as Source of Baby Stars

We live inside a vast, expanding bubble, a hollow in the matter and radiation that exist in the space between the stars. This ‘local bubble’ is driven by the expanding shock waves of 15 supernovas that have occurred over the past 14 million years. And nearly all the new stars and stellar nurseries within 500 light years of Earth lie on its surface.

Fossils Reveal When Animals Started Making Noise

The fossil record is revealing the first creatures that could hear and make noises. These include a 250-million-year-old insect that has the earliest known structures capable of producing sounds: drum-like membranes called tymbals, which can be contracted and relaxed to generate exceptionally loud clicks.

Huge ichthyosaur fossil found

A gigantic prehistoric “sea dragon” discovered in the Midlands has been described as one of the greatest finds in the history of British palæontology. The ichthyosaur, which is about 180m years old with a skeleton measuring about 10 metres in length and a skull weighing about a tonne, is the largest and most complete fossil of its kind ever found in the UK.

Stars may form 10 times faster than thought

A gas cloud could coalesce into a baby star ten times quicker than previously thought. Astronomers observed that the feeble magnetic fields outside the core of Lynds 1544, the beginnings of a star that’s forming in the Taurus Molecular Cloud, are even weaker than predicted. That gives gravity free rein in that region to crush enough gas together to spark nuclear fusion.