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The Einstein Probe was launched in January 2024 to look at X-ray transients, among other things. Its power comes from its Wide-field X-ray Telescope (WXT), which can capture 3600 square degrees of the sky in a single go. That’s an area 18,000 times the apparent area of the Moon. That is a huge patch of astronomical sky, so it’s not surprising that just two months later the probe saw a 17-minute burst of soft X-rays. Given the name EP240315a, it is an example of a fast X-ray transient (FXRT).

Because the WXT can pinpoint transients so quickly, other telescopes could make follow-up observations in real time. Within an hour after its first detection, the Asteroid Terrestrial-Impact Last Alert System (ATLAS) captured the event in visible light. Other observations from the Gemini-North telescope in Hawaii and the Very Large Telescope in Chile were able to measure the redshift of the event. They found that the light of EP240315a traveled for 12.5 billion years to reach us. Radio light from the event was captured from the Australian Telescope Compact Array (ATCA). A global team of observatories allowed astronomers to discover something interesting.

To begin with, radio observations of EP240315a were consistent with a gamma-ray burst (GRB). We often see a burst of X-rays before a GRB, but the X-rays usually appear just a few dozen seconds before the gamma rays. But in this case, the X-rays appeared six minutes before the GRB. This suggests that these GRBs occur through a process we don’t understand. The only way to be sure is to gather more data, which is where the Einstein Probe will come in.

One of the reasons we haven’t seen these kinds of early soft X-rays before a GRB is that they are rather faint. The X-ray light dims and fades as it travels billions of light-years, so it takes a sensitive detector such as the Einstein Probe to see them well. Given the rate at which gamma-ray bursts occur and the wide-field observations of the WXT, we should be able to see many more of them in the near future. Combined with the global team of other observatories, our understanding of GRBs may be set to change in the near future.

Reference: Ricci, Roberto, et al. “Long-term Radio Monitoring of the Fast X-Ray Transient EP 240315a: Evidence for a Relativistic Jet.” The Astrophysical Journal Letters 979.2 (2025): L28.

The post A New Space Telescope is Giving Us New Insights Into Gamma Ray Bursts appeared first on Universe Today.

Here is day 2 of our 3-day conference on Censorship in the Sciences at the University of Southern California, with all talks contained in the 6½-hour video. I will recommend one, and since I missed the bit beginning at 3:30, will give the recommendation of a friend who watched the whole day. I’ve given the whole schedule below.

The first talk you might watch is the first one of the day, a zoom talk by Stavroula Kousta, the Chief Editor of the Springer journal Nature Human Behavior. It begins at 0:00 and ends at 23:49, with the Q&A ending at 34:24.

The journal and its editor became infamous in August of 2022 when it published a paper called “Science must respect the dignity and rights of all humans” (see my post here), which notes this:

This new article in Nature Human Behavior Is well-intentioned, aiming to purge bigotry from science, but goes way over the top in three ways. First, it claims that science is complicit in structural racism at present.  That’s not true, though in the past some scientists and institutions were guilty of this. Second, it assumes that papers submitted to the journal are going to be rife with racism, bigotry, misogyny, and anti-LGBTQ+ bias that will cause “harm”, and therefore authors must be warned in a long document about their biases and how to avoid expressing them. The piece thus gives a long set of rules that actually conform to woke practice. Third, it explicitly states that even papers with publishable scientific results can be rejected if the facts presented are deemed liable to cause harm. And “harm” is often in the gut of the beholder. The article is thus a threat that unless articles conform to a specific ideological stance, they can be rejected even if the data themselves are worth publishing.

As you’ll hear, Kousta somewhat hedges her original claim that papers should not be published if they cause “harm” to readers, including psychological harm.  She notes that the journal’s guidance isn’t about suppressing clear results of research but the conclusions drawn by research. “Harm” could be conclusions—I note that there is often no clear distinction between results and conclusions—that hurt any groups whose rights are protected by international treaties.  She doesn’t discuss the hard cases, for example research reporting any differences in IQ or educational attainment between ethnic groups. She also suggests that the “harms” of research could be minimized by the journal by giving “accompanying commentary” or an “accompanying editorial.” Those, however, an implicit view by the journal that the paper cannot stand on its own. Her talk sounds like an attempt to rebut the criticisms of the paper that arose immediately.

The first question (23:53) was by journalist Jesse Singal about one example of a potentially harmful result, emphasizing the slippery-ness of the concept of “harm”.  Julia Schaletzky, on my own panel, asks the third question, and it’s a good one, dealing with “harms” whose prevention could lead to longer-term harms to the community. (Somebody should have asked Kousta to give a concrete example of a piece of research that should be deep-sixed from the journal because it harmed a group of people.)  Kousta implies that this could never happen, but it in fact a manuscript from a federally funded study, showing that giving children puberty blockers does not increase their overall psychological well-being, has been withheld (by the author, Johanna Olson-Kennedy, not by the journal) certainly because those results don’t jibe with what gender ideologists want to see.

Pinker’s tweet:

My objection to this kind of vetting of articles when the concept of “harm” is so badly slippery these days was echoed in a tweet by Steve Pinker:

Journalists & psychologists take note: Nature Human Behavior is no longer a peer-reviewed scientific journal but an enforcer of a political creed. I won’t referee, publish, or cite (how do we know articles have been vetted for truth rather than political correctness)? https://t.co/3qXFGizt6h pic.twitter.com/G5BgB2hpqD

— Steven Pinker (@sapinker) August 26, 2022

********************

Luana recommends Cory Clark‘s talk, “From worriers to warriors: The rise of women in science and society,” which begins at 5:13:40 and ends at 5:37:01, followed by Q&A that ends at 5:48:20. Her hypothesis, which is hers, is that many of the ideological problems that plague science now, as well as some salubrious effects, are actually the result of the success of women, whose evolutionary past bequeathed them a set of behaviors different from those those of men.  Clark’s contention: women evolved to hold grudges longer than men, are more empathic than men, more egalitarian, and so on. She goes on to show surveys of sex differences bearing on cancelation and wokeness.

These differences, she says, lead to an increased emphasis on equity and on avoidance of harm, as well as to an increase in ostracism, producing not only wokeness in academia but also a cancel culture relying more heavily on female than on male beliefs. There are salubrious effects as well, such as the female emphasis on reduced animal testing and “the fall of competent but criminal men.” Women, she says, are more likely to be “social warriors.” It’s really an encouragement to take an evolutionary-psychology look at how sex differences in behavior have influenced academia. In the Q&A, Clark notes how she’s been ostracized, and one questioner says she would like to push Clark down an elevator shaft and that nursing, a woman-dominated profession, does not suffer from the problems that, Clark says, affect academia. Another questioner agrees with Clark’s patterns, but attributes them to acculturation rather than evolution.

Guest Rogue Andrea Jones Roy; News Items: Unexpected Scientific Results, Trust In Scientists, Red Dye #3, Andromeda Mosaic, Telepathy Tapes; Who's That Noisy; Science or Fiction

Even with all we’ve learned about Mars in recent decades, the planet is still mysterious. Most of the mystery revolves around life and whether the planet ever supported any. But the planet teases us with more foundational mysteries, too.

One of those mysteries is the Martian dichotomy: Why are the planet’s northern and southern hemispheres so different?

For some reason, Mars’ southern hemisphere is predominantly highlands and has a higher elevation than the northern hemisphere—about 5km (3 mi) higher. The south also has a thicker crust, is older and is covered in craters.

The northern hemisphere is a vast, smooth plain with a thinner crust and fewer craters. It is also less magnetized than the south.

Elevation map of Mars, based on data obtained by the Mars Global Surveyor’s MOLA instrument. The northern hemisphere is a smooth plain with a lower elevation than the southern hemisphere. Image Credit: NASA/GSFC

Scientists have been puzzling over this dichotomy and have proposed different reasons for it. One leading theory involves a massive impact. Some researchers using geophysical modelling have suggested that a Pluto-sized body struck Mars early in its history. The impact could’ve created the northern lowlands as a gigantic impact basin.

Other researchers have proposed that the planet’s internal (endogenic) processes created the dichotomy. Plate tectonics or mantle convection could’ve been behind it.

Either way, the dichotomy is fundamental to understanding Mars. We can’t understand the planet’s evolution without revealing the mystery behind the dichotomy. This is why NASA and the DLR launched the InSight lander, which reached the Martian surface in November 2018.

The lander’s name stands for Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy, and Heat Transport. Among its instruments was SEIS, the Seismic Experiment for Interior Structure. SEIS helped scientists better understand Marsquakes by detecting and measuring hundreds of them. It also helped them measure crustal thickness and investigate the mantle. InSight’s data also helped them constrain the size of Mars’ core.

Scientists are still working with InSight’s data, and a new research letter published in the AGU’s Geophysical Research Letters suggests that Mars’ convection is behind the Martian dichotomy. It’s titled “Constraints on the Origin of the Martian Dichotomy From Southern Highlands Marsquakes.” The authors are Weijia Sun from the Chinese Academy of Sciences and Professor and geophysicist Hrvoje Tkalcic from the Australian National University.

The authors state the Martian dichotomy in clear terms: “The Martian hemispheric dichotomy is delineated by significant differences in elevation and crustal thickness between the Northern Lowlands and Southern Highlands.” The altitude difference is about equal to the height of the tallest mountains on Earth.

This research is based on a cluster of Marsquakes in the Terra Cimmeria region of the southern highlands. “We analysed waveform data from so-called low frequency marsquakes captured by NASA’s InSight seismograph on Mars,” Professor Tkalcic said. “In doing this, we located a cluster of six previously detected, but unlocated marsquakes in the planet’s southern highlands, in the Terra Cimmeria region.”

These quakes gave the researchers new seismic data from previously unstudied regions, which is significant because it allows them to compare the data to seismic data from other regions, especially from the Cerberus Fossae region in the northern lowlands.

A MOLA map showing the boundaries of Terra Cimmeria and other nearby regions. Image Credit: By Jim Secosky modified NASA image. Public Domain.

Cerberus Fossae is a series of near-parallel fissures on Mars. Scientists think they were created by the Tharsis volcanoes to the east and Elysium to the west.

The image on the left is a vertical plan view of Cerberus Fossae. The pair of trenches are very young and formed from volcanic activity only a few million years ago. Image Credit: ESA/DLR/FU Berlin, CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO. The image on the right shows Cerberus Fossae in context. Image Credit: NASA MGS MOLA Science Team.

The researchers worked with InSight’s seismic data and improved the signal-to-noise ratio. That improvement allowed them to pinpoint the locations of the marsquakes. “Here, we improve the signal-to-noise ratios and determine the locations of the low-frequency marsquakes recorded during the InSight mission. We find a new cluster of marsquakes in Terra Cimmeria, Southern Highlands, in addition to those previously located in Cerberus Fossae, Northern Lowlands,” they write.

The researchers used what’s called the spectral ratio method to determine the quality of the waves. In this context, quality refers to how quickly seismic waves lose energy as they travel through the Martian interior. It’s expressed as a value for ‘Q’ which was different between the Cerberus Fossae region and the Terra Cimmeria region.

This figure from the research letter illustrates some of the work. (a) shows the topography with location names marked. (b) shows Marsquake locations from InSight Marsquake Service (2023) in blue stars, and this study’s locations are in red stars. (c)–(e) are enlarged views of Marsquake locations for clarity, with (c) showing the new cluster of quakes. The yellow triangle shows InSight’s location. Image Credit: Sun and Tkalcic 2025.

“Using the spectral ratio method, we estimate the quality factor Q in the range 481–543 for Terra Cimmeria versus 800–2,000 determined for Cerberus Fossae,” the researchers explain. A higher Q in the Southern Highlands’ Terra Cimmeria indicates that seismic waves there ‘attenuate’ or lose energy more quickly.

Such a large difference in Q between regions indicates that the subsurfaces are substantially different from one another. Temperature and mantle convection could be the key. “The attenuation difference might be linked to the temperature differences between the two hemispheres, along with more vigorous convection beneath the Southern Highlands,” the paper states.

“The data from these marsquakes, when compared with the well-documented northern hemisphere marsquakes, reveal how the planet’s southern hemisphere is significantly hotter compared to its northern hemisphere,” Professor Tkalcic said. “Understanding whether convection is taking place offers clues into how Mars has evolved into its current state over billions of years.”

Researchers’ primary goal in studying the Martian dichotomy has been to determine whether endogenic or exogenic processes or events are responsible. However, the impact theory is hampered by timing. There are significant geochronological constraints for giant impacts on Mars. Crater data, mineral distribution, and the presence of river channels all conflict with the impact hypothesis, which most researchers suggest had to have happened early in the Solar System’s history.

“These seismological observations, together with geochronological constraints of giant impacts, reinforce the “endogenic” hypothesis that mantle convection causes the crustal dichotomy,” they explain.

This figure from the research letter illustrates some of the results. It shows the endogenic origin of the Martian dichotomy from seismological observations. “Although other mechanisms may contribute to attenuation (dislocations, melt, pre-melting effects), we infer that the observed attenuation difference stems mainly from the temperature difference,” the authors write. “Our interpretation <in Figure 4> is compatible with the finding that the mantle temperature is substantially higher beneath the Southern Highlands than in the Northern Lowlands.” Image Credit: Sun and Tkalcic 2025.

Are these findings a breakthrough in understanding the Martian dichotomy? Possibly. Compared to our seismic probings of Earth’s interior, Mars is practically undiscovered.

“On Earth, we have thousands of seismic stations scattered around the planet. But on Mars, we have a single station, so the challenge is determining the location of these marsquakes when you have only a single instrument,” Professor Tkalcic said.

It seems that the researchers have met that challenge.

“These findings, supported by geochemical analysis of Martian meteorites, provide valuable in situ seismological observations that support the “endogenic” hypothesis, suggesting that mantle convection plays a crucial role in forming the Martian crustal dichotomy,” the authors explain.

The post A Marsquake Reveals Why Mars has Two Very Different Hemispheres appeared first on Universe Today.

As California expands its prescribed burning efforts, a study of more than 180 such projects suggests they are an effective way to reduce a blaze's intensity and smoke

The Vera C. Rubin Observatory, previously known as the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST), will be the first observatory of its kind. Jointly funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the Department of Energy (DOE), Rubin will conduct the Legacy Survey of Space and Time (LSST) – a 10-year survey of the southern hemisphere. The observatory is expected to collect 15 terabytes of data a night, which will be used to create an ultra-wide, ultra-high-definition, time-lapse record of the cosmos, containing tens of billions of stars, galaxies, and astronomical objects.

After ten years of construction, the Vera C. Rubin Observatory is less than one year away from starting this revolutionary observation campaign. In preparation for this, the observatory recently completed a series of full-system tests using an engineering test camera. With this milestone complete, the stage is now set for the installation of the 3200-megapixel LSST Camera (LSSTCam), the world’s largest digital camera. Once mounted on the Simonyi Survey Telescope, the observatory will have finished construction and be ready to collect its first light.

The engineering test camera, the Commissioning Camera (ComCam), is a much smaller version of the LSSTCam. It relies on a mosaic of nine 3.2-megapixel Charge-Coupled Device (CCD) sensors, providing a total area coverage of 144 megapixels – about twice the size of a full Moon. During the ComCam engineering test campaign, which took place from October 24th to December 11th, 2024, the camera acquired approximately 16,000 exposures to test the Rubin Observatory’s hardware, software, and data pipeline.

A single test engineering image from the very first night of the ComCam campaign in the context of the coverage provided by the LSSTCam. Credit: RubinObs/NOIRLab/SLAC/NSF/DOE/AURA.

The tests were conducted by Rubin’s international commissioning team, composed of hundreds of engineers, scientists, and observing specialists. According to a statement issued by the Rubin Observatory, the test included verifying that the telescope’s complex systems were all working together, testing the early image quality in all six of the system’s filters, and running the data processing pipelines. They also verified that the system can transmit large amounts of data from the observatory to the Department of Energy’s SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory.

They also confirmed the Active Optics System (AOS), which maintains the precise positions and shapes of the telescope’s three large mirrors. The Simonyi Survey Telescope, the camera, data systems, networks, and everyone involved in the engineering test were said to have performed exceptionally well. The test delivered high-quality images within the first hours, even though most of the detailed optical adjustments and environmental controls were not fully activated. Per the statement:

“Thanks to the dedicated efforts and talents of thousands of people over many years, the telescope had been assembled with all its complex parts positioned correctly to better than about one millimeter. Equally satisfyingly, the high-speed network connecting Chile and the data center at SLAC, the data systems, and the algorithms for analyzing the data worked well, too.”

The LSSTCam has 189 CCD sensors, giving it a field of view roughly 45 times the size of a full Moon – over 21 times that of the ComCam. For the final phase of construction, the LSSTCam will replace the ComCam on the Simonyi Survey Telescope. When coupled with this 8.4-meter (27.5-ft) telescope, the LSTTCam will capture images of very faint and variable objects at an unprecedented rate. The installation will take a few months, followed by the observatory capturing its “First Look” images of the cosmos.

The complete focal plane of the future LSST Camera shows the 189 individual sensors that will produce 3,200-megapixel images. Credit: Jacqueline Orrell/SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory

“The success of the engineering test phase has given a surge of excitement and anticipation to the team,” said Deputy Director for Rubin Construction Sandrine Thomas. “Reaching this milestone has offered a small taste of what is to come once Rubin Observatory begins its 10-year survey.” Once the final testing and verification phase is complete, the Rubin Observatory will begin the most comprehensive data-gathering mission ever performed in the history of astrophysics.

The observatory is named in honor of American astronomer Dr. Vera C. Rubin, whose work was foundational to the theory of Dark Matter. By repeatedly scanning the southern sky with its cutting-edge instruments for a decade, Rubin will create an ultra-high-definition time-lapse record of the cosmos. This data will allow scientists to investigate Dark Matter, Dark Energy, and other mysteries facing astronomers, astrophysicists, and cosmologists today.

Further Reading: Rubin Observatory

The post Vera Rubin Completes its Comprehensive System Tests appeared first on Universe Today.

Researchers have used machine learning to design nano-architected materials that have the strength of carbon steel but the lightness of Styrofoam. The team describes how they made nanomaterials with properties that offer a conflicting combination of exceptional strength, light weight and customizability. The approach could benefit a wide range of industries, from automotive to aerospace.

Researchers used cutting-edge X-ray techniques to gain new insights into 'infinite-layer' nickelate materials.

A research team has made significant discoveries regarding the complex reaction mechanisms of carbon dioxide (CO2) in supercritical water. These findings are crucial for understanding the molecular mechanisms of CO2 mineralization and sequestration in nature and engineering, as well as the deep carbon cycle within the Earth's interior. This understanding will help pave the way for new directions in future carbon sequestration technologies.

Various methods are used to correct errors in quantum computers. Not all operations can be implemented equally well with different correction codes. Therefore, a research team has developed a method and implemented it experimentally for the first time, with which a quantum computer can switch back and forth between two correction codes and thus perform all computing operations protected against errors.

Various methods are used to correct errors in quantum computers. Not all operations can be implemented equally well with different correction codes. Therefore, a research team has developed a method and implemented it experimentally for the first time, with which a quantum computer can switch back and forth between two correction codes and thus perform all computing operations protected against errors.

The novel iron-based catalyst exhibits superior performance for ammonia (NH3) synthesis compared to a well-established, century-old counterpart. By designing this new catalyst with an inverse structure, they managed to boost the NH3 production rate per volume of catalyst beyond levels never reached by conventional catalysts. These findings could lead us to more efficient NH3 synthesis, which is crucial to the agricultural and chemical industries.

A scientific team looks at the progress and challenges in the research and development of brain implants. New achievements in the field of this technology are seen as a source of hope for many patients with neurological disorders and have been making headlines recently. As neural implants have an effect not only on a physical but also on a psychological level, researchers are calling for particular ethical and scientific care when conducting clinical trials.

A scientific team looks at the progress and challenges in the research and development of brain implants. New achievements in the field of this technology are seen as a source of hope for many patients with neurological disorders and have been making headlines recently. As neural implants have an effect not only on a physical but also on a psychological level, researchers are calling for particular ethical and scientific care when conducting clinical trials.

Large batteries for long-term storage of solar and wind power are key to integrating abundant and renewable energy sources into the U.S. power grid. However, there is a lack of safe and reliable battery technologies to support the push toward sustainable, clean energy. Now, researchers have designed a cost-effective and environment-friendly aluminum-ion (Al-ion) battery that could fit the bill.

Many people struggle to maintain a healthy weight, and choosing the optimal meals for weight loss can be challenging. A research team has developed a weight management program that helps individuals plan meals with the assistance of a web application and support from a registered dietitian. In a new study, they discuss the app's features, development, and implementation.

There might be a type of exoplanet without dry land. They’re called “Hycean” worlds, a portmanteau of ‘hydrogen’ and ‘ocean.’ They’re mostly or entirely covered in oceans and have thick hydrogen atmospheres.

They’re intriguing because their atmospheres keep them warm enough to have liquid water outside of the traditional habitable zones. If they do exist, scientists think they’re good candidates to support microbial life.

Hycean worlds are hypothetical, but there is some evidence that they exist. The Kepler mission detected many candidates and provided foundational evidence for their existence. However, it didn’t detect any with certainty.

More recently, JWST observations also supported the idea. The space telescope detected carbon dioxide and methane in the atmosphere of a candidate Hycean world called K2-18b. Both of those molecules can be biosignatures of microbial life under similar conditions as Earth’s oceans.

This infographic shows the chemicals the JWST detected in the atmosphere of K2-18b. In addition to the carbon-bearing molecules methane and carbon dioxide, it detected the potential biosignature dimethyl sulphide. Image Credit: JWST/STScI

New research published in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society examines the potential Hycean worlds hold for the evolution of life and how life might depend on these worlds’ thermodynamic conditions. It’s titled “Prospects for Biological Evolution on Hycean Worlds.” The authors are Emily G Mitchell and Nikku Madhusudhan, both from the University of Cambridge.

“The search for extraterrestrial life is one of the most fundamental quests in human history,” the authors write. “An important recent development in this direction is the possibility of Hycean worlds, which increase both the numbers of potentially habitable planets and the ability to detect biosignatures in their atmospheres.”

Research shows that Hycean Worlds can provide both the chemical and the thermodynamic conditions necessary for microbial life to persist in their oceans. In this research, the authors used the metabolic theory of ecology (MTE) to explore how simple life might evolve in Hycean Worlds under different temperature conditions. In simple terms, MTE says that an organism’s metabolic rate is fundamental to its ability to persist and thrive. It applies to individual processes and community and population processes. A key idea behind MTE is that temperature strongly influences metabolic rates.

Previous studies show that when temperatures in a habitable environment increase, biological activity increases up to a point. In this research, Mitchell and Madhusudhan investigate how ocean surface temperatures affect Earth-like single-celled life and how long it takes them to originate on Hycean Worlds. They also explore how different temperatures affect the detectability of biosignatures.

“This work, in turn, has observable consequences for prominent biosignatures on such planets, considering that unicellular phytoplankton are a major source of key biomarkers in the Earth’s atmosphere, such as dimethyl sulphide, which may be observable in Hycean atmospheres,” the researchers write in their paper.

Dimethyl sulphide is strongly linked to phytoplankton and has a unique spectral signature that the JWST can detect in exoplanet atmospheres.

The researchers focused on several key phytoplankton groups that are abundant on Earth and produce biosignature gases in its atmosphere. Among them are Cyanobacteria (blue-green algae), Methanococccea (a methanogen), and diatoms, which generate as much as 50% of Earth’s oxygen each year. They paid special attention to Aquificota.

Aquificota is a phylum of bacteria named after an early genus in the group Aquifix. Its members are found in fresh water and oceans and can produce water by oxidizing hydrogen.

“In order to illustrate how evolutionary rates change with temperature over planetary timescales, we have calculated the evolutionary rates for an example organism (Aquifix) over the last 4.3 billion years,” the paper states. They used Aquifix because it’s a strong analogue for some of Earth’s first life.

The researchers showed that even marginal changes in Earth’s ocean surface temperature compared to the surface temperature over evolutionary timescales significantly change the origination time and evolutionary rates of important species of simple life. “For example, a 10 K increase relative to Earth
leads to evolutionary rates which are over twice as fast, while a decrease of 10 K halves them,” the authors explain.

They found that warmer oceans can accelerate the rate of evolution, allowing key unicellular groups like archaea and bacteria to appear as early as 1.3 billion years after the origin of life. This indicates that higher temperatures drive a faster progression to complex life. “This increased rate has a significant impact on the origination times of unicellular groups such that for an increase of 10K of surface temperature, all of the major groups will have originated by 1.19 Gyr post-Origin of Life (OlL) and all the key phytoplankton groups by 1.28 Gyr,” the authors write.

This figure from the research shows the effect of temperature on the origination times of major clades. The origination time on Earth of each group is marked with a forward arrow. Red indicates increased
temperature by +10 K, and blue indicates decreased temperature by -10 K. “We find that an increase in the surface temperature of 10K results in all the phytoplankton groups originating with 1.3 Gyr of the OoL,” the authors explain. Cyanobacteria appear particularly early, only 0.25 billion years after the Origin of Life. Image Credit: Mitchell and Madhusudhan 2025.

The reverse is also true. The researchers found that cooler temperatures delay the appearance of key lifeforms by up to several billion years. That could mean that complex life takes longer to appear. “In contrast, a decrease of 10K of median surface temperature severely limits the origination rates, such that by 4 Gyr post-OoL, only Bacteria and Archaea will have evolved but not oxygenic photosynthesis or Eukaryotes,” the authors write.

In that case, it would also affect the appearance of observable biosignatures, and their intensity and ease of detection.

One of their central findings is that only a marginal range of environmental conditions allows for a large range of evolutionary rates and origination times. “First, given the wide range of possible atmospheric conditions in Hycean worlds, an equally wide diversity in microbial life could be expected,” they write. “In particular, the origination of new clades in warm Hycean worlds can happen significantly faster than on Earth.”

If Hycean worlds exist, this research suggests that they could be “rippling with life,” as Carl Sagan put it, on shorter timescales than Earth.

An artist’s illustration of a Hycean World. Image Credit: By Pablo Carlos Budassi – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=135998139

The candidate Hycean worlds we know of are thought to have warmer oceans than Earth. So, by extension, the candidate Hycean World K2-18 b, which is only 2.4 billion years old, could have the conditions necessary for originating and sustaining key unicellular groups. That means that it, and others like it, are good targets in the search for biosignatures.

The authors offer a couple of caveats to their results. They considered only a fairly narrow range of temperature and physical conditions based on Earth. In reality, habitable extraterrestrial planets could exhibit a much wider range. “Future work in this direction could explore a range of other conditions, including the effect of gravity, pressure, larger temperature variations and other environmental factors,” the researchers write in their conclusion.

We don’t know if Hycean Worlds are real. Some scientists think that their hydrogen-rich atmospheres might be unstable. There are also concerns about radiation exposure inhibiting life and atmospheric chemistry working against biochemical processes. The formation pathways for these worlds are also unclear, as are the mechanisms for generating and sustaining their atmospheres.

However, if they do exist, this study makes one thing clear: For different surface temperatures, a warm planet could have a more complex biosphere at a relatively young age, and a cooler one could have a simpler biosphere at a later age.

In the end, we aren’t travelling to any of these worlds, so detecting biosignatures is the name of the game.

“Such biospheres with varied levels of complexity can impact the detectability of life on them, such that warmer planets have the potential to show strong atmospheric biosignatures,” the researchers conclude.

The post Could Ocean Worlds Support Life? appeared first on Universe Today.

When I wrote last week about the great guitar solo in Steely Dan’s son “Kid Charlemagne, a solo played by studio magician Larry Carlton, I forgot that Walter Becker, a regular member of the Dan, played a great solo on the enigmatic song “Bad Sneakers“. The song is from the Dan’s 1975 “Katy Lied” album. (There’s a rare live version here.)  I suppose I’ve read interpretations of the song’s lyrics (below), but it still doesn’t make any sense to me. I’m sure it made sense to Fagen when he wrote it, though. (You can hear one dubious interpretation here.)

The solo goes from 1:55 to 2:26; a 30-second work of genius. I love it when the keyboard and wailing guitar seem to go off on their own tempo with everything coming back together at the end.

And I’ll still argue against those who criticize Fagen’s voice; I think it’s perfect for the songs, even though he’s lost it in his dotage.

The opaque lyrics (I’d be delighted if anybody wanted to offer an interpretation!):

[Verse 1]
Five names that I can hardly stand to hear
Including yours and mine
And one more chimp who isn’t here
I can see the ladies talking
How the times are getting hard
And that fearsome excavation
On Magnolia Boulevard[Pre-Chorus]
Yes I’m going insane
And I’m laughing in the frozen rain
Well I’m so alone
Honey, when they gonna send me home?[Chorus]
Bad sneakers and a piña colada, my friend
Stompin’ on the avenue by Radio City with a
Transistor and a large sum of money to spend

[Verse 2]
You fellah, you tearin’ up the street
You wear that white tuxedo
How you gonna beat the heat?
Do you take me for a fool?
Do you think that I don’t see
That ditch out in the valley
That they’re digging just for me?

See rock shows near Chicago Get tickets as low as $50 You might also like Your Gold Teeth Steely Dan Push Ups Drake we can’t be friends (wait for your love) Ariana Grande [Pre-Chorus]
Yes I’m going insane
You know I’m laughing at the frozen rain
Well I feel like I’m so alone
Honey, when they gonna send me home?[Chorus]
Bad sneakers and piña colada, my friend
Stompin’ on the avenue by Radio City with a
Transistor and a large sum of money to spend[Instrumental Break]

[Pre-Chorus]
You know, going insane
Yes I’m laughing at the frozen rain
And I’m so alone
Honey, when they gonna send me home?

[Outro]
Bad sneakers and a piña colada, my friend
Stompin’ on the avenue by Radio City with a
Transistor and a large sum of money to spend

While some progress has been made in limiting greenhouse gas emissions, we are still on the path for high levels of global warming

Cryopreserved coral sperm could be used for future breeding programmes to restore damaged reefs