Below is a summary of the latest science news briefs.
Scientists believe Tyrannosaurus was not only a’rex’ but three species.
A group of researchers proposes that Tyrannosaurus is the most well-known dinosaur and the ultimate predator. Based on the thighbone and tooth variations found in dozens of its fossils, it actually includes three species. T. rex, which means “tyrant Lizard King,” has been the only known species of Tyrannosaurus genus since 1905 when the dinosaur was first discovered. A genus is a larger grouping of related organisms to a species.
Scientists predict disasters in advance of climate catastrophes as they become more common.
Climate scientists reviewed a Pacific Ocean temperature forecast map in November. A bright red, sideways V, thousands of kilometres long, was the sign of disaster. The combination of La Nina cooling across the eastern and central Pacifics, and the V-shaped pattern of warm ocean water stretching from Australia to the Philippines and back to Hawaii, indicated that the March-May rainy seasons would likely fail halfway around the globe in the Horn of Africa.
Harvard, MIT -U.S. Tribunal are the inventors and innovators in gene-editing technology
A U.S. tribunal that oversees patent disputes ruled Monday that patents covering the breakthrough gene-editing technology known CRISPR belonged to Harvard University and Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office’s ruling is a defeat to the University of California, Berkeley and the University of Vienna and Nobel Prize-winning researcher Emmanuelle Charpentier.
NOAA’s latest satellite for fire-tracking and weather data launched to orbit
On Tuesday, the Atlas V rocket lifted off from Florida carrying the next major satellite designed and built by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. It will orbit the next big satellite that provides round-the-clock monitoring of weather and wildfires as well as climate change over Earth’s western half. The GOES T spacecraft is the third in a series of advanced geostationary satellites. It has been credited with revolutionizing weather forecasting and environmental monitoring from space.
Stellar, a ‘vampire’ who falls in love with her companion star, finds love at the first bite
Astronomers have been able to see what happens when a “vampire star” suckers the outer layers from a companion star. This “bitten” victim is reduced to a simple stellar core. Data obtained by the Chile-based European Southern Observatory telescopes (ESO) on Wednesday revealed that the star system HR 6819 was not accompanied, as previously thought.
Seals help Japanese researchers collect data under Antarctic ice
Although it might seem unusual to see a seal wearing an antenna-equipped helmet, eight Weddell seals with a 580g monitoring device attached to their heads have been helping Japanese researchers study the waters beneath the thick Antarctica ice sheet. These seals were tapped for a research project that took place between March 2017 and November 2017. The probe was focused on winter in Antarctica.
Scientist uses tiny trackers in order to keep an eye on funnel-web web spiders
Some Sydney funnel-webs are crawling into the Australian bush, carrying special cargo: a Telemetry Tracker. This tracker is used to study the distance a mature male male can travel at night as well as how the environment and weather affect their movements. Caitlin Creak, a PhD Candidat at the School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences of University of New South Wales, is tracking the male Sydney channel-web, one of most dangerous spiders in the world, since two summers. The nocturnal arachnid is active between November-April within a radius of around 100km (62 miles).
Ukraine receives Starlink internet terminals – and a friendly warning about safety
Ukraine claimed Monday that it received donated Starlink satellite internet terminals by SpaceX. However, an internet security researcher warned that these could be Russian targets. “Starlink — here. Thank you, @elonmusk,” Ukraine’s vice prime minister, Mykhailo Federorov, tweeted after asking Elon Musk, the billionaire chief executive of SpaceX, for his assistance. Fedorov tweeted a picture of a truck that looked military, with terminals loaded on the back.
(This story was not edited by Devdiscourse staff. It is generated automatically from a syndicated feed.
