This week’s hottest science news revolves around the Sun, with some surprising new research published about our star and a fascinating interstellar comet currently passing close to the Sun.
First, scientists have discovered a clue as to why the sun is much hotter on its outer surface than inside its core. New research reveals that magnetic waves – theorized since the 1940s but only now detected – carry energy from the sun’s inner furnace to its outer corona.
Nanotyrannus was real, and more than just a teenage tyrannosaurus
A surprising fossil discovery has thrown the dinosaur on fire into a controversy over whether the small Tyrannosaurus rex was a young Tyrannosaurus rex or its own species. The debate has been going on for nearly 40 years, but fossils known as “dueling dinosaurs” may finally provide a definitive answer. Fossils unearthed in 2006 show a Triceratops seemingly locked in a fight with a ferocious Tyrannosaurus rex.
Now, a surprising analysis of the “Dueling Dinosaurs” reveals that this Tyrannosaurus was not a juvenile Tyrannosaurus, as many experts had assumed, but was likely a fully grown adult of the previously discussed species Nanotyrannus lansensis.
Following this discovery, paleontologists now largely accept that Nanotyrannus is its own species. But to confuse matters further, another research team named another new species in the genus Nanotyrannus lethaeus. Does that mean the problem is finally resolved? Or do paleontologists have a new bone to contend with?
More animal news
-An ancient ‘frosty’ rhino in Canada’s high Arctic rewrites what scientists thought they knew about the North Atlantic Land Bridge
– A university says there is no herpes in free-ranging lab monkeys in Mississippi. But are they dangerous?
-First-ever mummified ungulate dinosaur discovered in Wyoming wasteland
life’s little mysteries
When you imagine a Neanderthal having dinner, you probably picture a Neanderthal chewing on a giant prehistoric drumstick. But did our extinct cousins really eat only meat, or did they also eat vegetables?
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Mastering the use of chatbots will improve their accuracy.
Do you hate AI? A new study shows that chatbots give you more accurate answers when you’re being mean. However, the difference in accuracy is quite small, with a 4% improvement between prompts classified as very polite and very rude.
Still, the researchers cautioned against this approach, as being rude and disrespectful towards bots can affect how they behave with other humans. If that’s not a compelling enough reason, consider the (nearly impossible) possibility that bots can gain sentience. Are you sure the bot forgot what you said?
Discover more technology news
– Thanks to groundbreaking “artificial muscles,” a humanoid robot can lift objects 4,000 times its own weight.
—China solves ‘centuries-old problem’ with new analog chip 1,000 times faster than high-end Nvidia GPUs
— AI models refuse to shut down even when prompted — Research claims AI models may be developing a new ‘will to survive’
Also featured in this week’s science news
—Watch as the Air Force flies inside the eye of Hurricane Melissa as experts warn that the “storm of the century” will have a devastating impact on Jamaica.
—Physicists again detect rare ‘second generation’ black hole that proves Einstein right
-900 years ago, Native Americans dragged, carried, or floated five tons of wood more than 100 miles to North America’s largest city in northern Mexico.
—A ‘mysterious’ object discovered by the James Webb telescope may be the oldest known galaxy in the universe
science spotlight
The introduction of an mRNA-based vaccine for the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) was a major accomplishment of the former Trump administration, which quickly brought the pandemic under control from vaccine concept to mass production in just a few months.
But now, the second Trump administration appears intent on undoing previous efforts through funding freezes, mass layoffs, and the elimination of research projects into mRNA research.
As the U.S. government continues to withdraw from the technology, scientists worry that the innovative treatments it offers for cancer, immune deficiencies and genetic diseases will be left behind. Live Science reported on the uncertain future of mRNA research in the United States in this fascinating Science Spotlight.
something for the weekend
If you’re looking for something a little longer to read over the weekend, here are some of the best polls, interviews, and opinion pieces published this week.
Would you like to abolish daylight saving time? [Poll]
“This is a level of anti-vaccine effort that we’ve never seen before,” said epidemiologist Dr. Seth Berkley. [Interview]
There is such a thing as “settled science” – anyone who says otherwise is trying to manipulate you. [Opinion]
Science in pictures
The James Webb Space Telescope provided us with a spooky treat this Halloween. They captured never-before-seen details of the Red Spider Nebula, as its filaments twist and stretch like the limbs of a giant arachnid.
Such planetary nebulae form when a Sun-like star reaches the end of its life, expands into a red giant, and sheds its outer layers to form a blanket of superheated dust. The legs of a cosmic spider shimmer with hydrogen molecules, and fragmented gas flowing from a dying star gives the cosmic limbs a distinctly hairy appearance.
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