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Chimpanzees have ability to change vocal accents in new social environments

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A new study suggests that chimpanzees have developed the shrewd ability to take on the accents of new social groups they mix with, and they do this by altering their call grunts in the exact accent of their new friends or environments.

According to Katie Slocombe of the University of York, “Our study shows that chimpanzee referential food calls are not fixed in their structure and that, when exposed to a new social group, chimpanzees can change their calls to sound more like their group mates.”

This indicates that it is not only humans that have the capability to modify vocalizations or mimic the accents of other cultures until they speak like them, chimps too have developed the trait. Chimpanzees have a way of grunting to signify the call to particular kinds of foods – and what’s more, other chimps in the pack know exactly what each grunt means in terms of the foods available to the caller.

Seeing this, researchers studied how the call grunt for “apple” changed over a three-year period when a number of chimp groups were merged at the zoo in Edinburgh. The scientists found that although the high-pitched call of a group differed from the low-pitched call of another group, they were soon able to call or grunt in exactly the same way when they got to know one another much better.

“We think it’s quite easy to hear how the two groups called in different ways for apples in 2010, and how by 2013 the Dutch individuals changed their grunts to sound more like Edinburgh individuals,” said Stuart Watson, also from the University of York.

Since scientists believe that the generational gap between humans and chimpanzees dated to between five and seven million years, it is believed that the most recent common ancestor to both humans and chimps shared a building block of language.

According Simon Townsend of the University of Zurich, “It would be really exciting to try and find out why chimpanzees are motivated to sound more similar to their group mates,” he said as a member of the study team. “Is it so that they can be better understood? Or is it just to sound more similar to their friends?”

ESA Planck spacecraft Milky Way CMB observation suggests first stars born 100m years late

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According to new findings from the European Space Agency’s Planck satellite, the first starts in the universe could have formed about 100 million years later than most scientists have previously estimated. The observations of the CMB (Cosmic Microwave Background) polarization now suggest that the Dark Ages might have ended some 550 million years after the Big Bang, instead of previous estimates of some 420 million years later.

The Planck satellite’s continued studies and the sky maps have resulted in several research publications in the last couple of years. The recent data will also result in new papers and add to the scientific understanding of a view of the galaxy, describing dark matter and the neutrinos.

The Planck mission is led by principal researchers Nazarene Mandolesi, Jan Tauber and Jean-Loup Puget. The new studies use the most complete surveys of the sky, combining polarization maps of the CMB at four frequencies and temperature maps at all nine frequencies observable by the satellite. The data team discovered the new insights as they put together the map of the oldest light in the observable universe.

Professor George Efstathiou, one of the Plank Science Collaboration’s leaders, explained that the time difference observed in the recent study is a proportionally large change in our understanding of when and how several cosmic events unfolded in the initial phase of the cosmos evolution. However, the difference of about 100 million years might look small while considering 14 billion years old history of the universe.

The Planck data also support the hypothesis that dark energy is acting against gravity against the belief that dark energy doesn’t exist.

The new catalog of images from the Planck observations also demonstrates more than 1,500 clusters of galaxies, making it the largest catalog of its kind. It is archived at the ESA as well as at Infrared Processing and Analysis Center of NASA at the California Institute of Technology.

Source: ESA.

NASA to send life explorer spacecraft ‘Clipper’ on Jupiter’s Icy Moon Europa by 2020

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NASA is preparing for a mission to understand more about the famous Europa, the icy moon of Jupiter. The agency has already put a request for more funding in preparation for the mission. If all goes according to plan, the mission to Europa could launch in the middle of 2020 with a spacecraft set out to help with the exploration of the moon.

Assembling mission instruments

According to NASA’s Charles Bolden, an administrator, Europa is a fascinating moon, and they are planning a mission to find out if its conditions are appropriate to sustain life.

The main focus in the Europa Clipper mission is to investigate life in Europa, and the scientists hope for a viable mission. Already, NASA is assembling the instruments to carry out the mission.

They intend to send out a spacecraft equipped with radiation tolerance capabilities to orbit Jupiter and gather information about Europa. The unmanned spacecraft to Europe is expected to be about the size of a school bus, fitted with solar panels to help with the harnessing of energy from the sun.

Some of the instruments that NASA intends to fit into the spacecraft include a radar, especially for capturing beneath-the-surface images of the moon. An infrared spectrometer is also expected to be fitted into the spacecraft to capture details of the materials on the moon’s surface. The spacecraft is also expected to be bundled with a topography camera to record high-resolution images of Europa’s surface. Some other instruments to help with the analysis of Europa are also expected to be included in the mission.

Funding for the Europa mission

NASA has requested $30 million to fund preliminary studies of the mission starting later this year. The agency last year received $100 million from the Congress to fund the Europa mission.

Europa is said to be endowed with water bodies, including oceans that are believed to be about 62 miles deep. The moon has a lower gravity, but the conditions there are believed to be nearly the same as the earth. However, the planned mission should help NASA understand finer details about the icy moon.

Researchers discover microorganism with no affect of life evolution for last 2.3 billion years

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Researchers from the University of California in Los Angeles believe they might have discovered a microorganism that has not undergone any form of evolution for more than two billion years. The discovery essentially amounts to the longest ever absence of evolution in a single species.

UCLA professor of earth planetary and space sciences, William Schopf, has stated that it seems the microorganisms remained well adapted to their very simple yet stable physical and biological environment over the years.

The professor goes on to state that had the microorganisms been, in an environment that did not change but evolved themselves then, Darwin’s theory would have been put to question for being flaw. Darwin theory purports that organisms will always remain the same, unless there are some changes in their physical and biological environment.

Surface environments according to the professor are constantly changing consequently resulting in the biology change of organisms. The fact that the muds underneath the ocean remain undisturbed with fairly no signal from the environment above goes to show why the microorganism did not evolve in the more than 200 billion years.

The research team used a number of methods to investigate the age of the microbes, as well as their potential evolutionary impact. Some of the techniques used include Raman Spectroscopy that allows scientists to look inside rocks and determine their chemistry and composition.

Proceedings of the research published by the National Academy of Science suggest that the organisms survived five mass extinction events. The researchers had examined the microorganisms in samples of rocks discovered from the coastal waters of Western Australia.

Having carried tests also on samples of bacteria on the rocks thought to be 2.3 billion years, the researchers concluded that samples of the same bacteria remained indistinguishable from modern sulfur bacteria found on the coast of Chile. The findings essentially support Charles Darwin’s theory that evolution only occurs by Natural selection.

Land in Iceland rising by 1.4 inches a year due to global warming

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A research team at the University of Arizona has pointed out that that the Scandinavian island of Iceland is rising as a result of global warming. After studying the relatively fast rising of Iceland crust over the last three decades, the researchers have raised concerns over the fact that it could be rising by as much as 1.4 inches a year and that it could lead to an increase in volcanic activity in the future.

“There have been a lot of studies that have shown that the uplift in Iceland is primarily due to ice loss,” said lead author Kathleen Compton, an Arizona PhD student, adding that her study was the first to show accelerated sea level rise influences the land.

The research draws attention towards the rising of the vast ice sheets with the onset of global warming nearly three decades back. Kathleen says the team first began using GPS technology similar to what you’d find in a car to measure uplift in 2006.

“We used 62 GPS stations located all across the island of Iceland, and looked at how fast those GPS stations were moving upward through time,” Compton told FoxNews.com.

What really surprised researchers was the speed at which some sites in Iceland were rising.

“They’re not only moving upward very rapidly in the central and southern part of the island, but they’re speeding up over time- moving faster and faster each year.”

Some sites are rising as much as 1.4 inches a year. Researchers are worried that the rebound of the crust could mean an increase in the frequency of volcanic eruptions similar to the 2010 eruption of Eyjafjallajökull which had disrupted air travel over the European continent on an unprecedented scale.

Shortly afterwards, another Icelandic volcano Bardarbunga had began erupting in August 2014 and it hasn’t stopped since.

“I anticipate, given the 2014 Bardarbunga eruption, that there will be continued close monitoring of activity in Iceland- at least for the next five years,” said co-author Richard Bennett, an associate professor of geosciences at the University of Arizona to FoxNews.

The team’s study was financed by the National Science Foundation and the Icelandic Center for Research and the findings were published in the journal Geophysical Research Letters.

 

 

 

Study finds 4% yearly rise of Mercury concentration in Hawaiian Pacific Yellowfin Tuna Fish

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A recently published study indicates that the concentration of mercury found in North Pacific commercial fisheries is climbing at a rate of 4% yearly, and this is a reflection of the amount of mercury in the waters of the North Pacific oceans.

“The take-home message is that mercury in tuna appears to be increasing in lock-step with data and model predictions for mercury concentrations in water in the North Pacific,” said lead author Paul Drevnick, from the University of Michigan Biological Station and School of Natural Resources and Environment.

The model predictions were based on the atmospheric mercury release caused by smelting and the widespread burning of coal for power among other industries, and compared with historical records available on yellowfin tuna or Thunnus albacores in Hawaii over the past 50 years. The resulting data is that mercury concentrations continue to rise with no signs of abating since the industrial revolution.

“This confirms that mercury levels in open ocean fish are responsive to mercury emissions,” Drevnick added.

And at the rate of increase, the levels of industry-emitted mercury could double in concentration and the toxic metal overwhelm the Pacific by 2050, the researchers said. The Minamata Convention on Mercury held last September at the UN General Assembly where 120 countries vowed to combat the threat of mercury poisoning on a global scale would be defeated unless of course immediate steps are taken to arrest the situation.

The convention was designed to have nations working together to reduce industrial mercury emissions and prevent another tragedy like the one that occurred to the Japanese city of Minamata in 1956, which resulted in at least 54 cases of mercury poisoning. Most of those cases resulted in death or devastating cognitive impairment within the year.

“Future increases in mercury in yellowfin tuna and other fishes can be avoided by reductions in atmospheric mercury emissions from point sources,” Drevnick and his colleagues pressed, stressing that aside from pursuing ways to reduce mercury pollution via safe industrial practices, regulative attention should be brought to atmospheric emissions, namely those from gold smelting and coal burning.

Sea Slugs migrate to north California as climate change intensifies

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Millions of people don’t believe in any climate change or believe man’s activities have any impact on our world, but sea creatures amidst other land and air creatures are reacting to the onset of rising temperatures in our planet, and sending messages that global warming might indeed be real. This is played out when hundreds of sea slugs start to migrate to the cooler regions of northern California because their southern waters is getting unbearably warmer.

Humpback whales and dolphins amongst other sensitive creatures are already leaving the coastal waters of southern California and drifting in large numbers to Monterey Bay and other regions of northern California. Also known by scientists as nudibranchs, sea slugs have been confirmed by Terry Gosliner of the California Academy of Sciences as undergoing “population explosion” in the northern Californian waters.

“We haven’t seen anything like it in years,” said John Pearse, an emeritus professor of evolutionary biology at UC Santa Cruz.

The Hopkins’ Rosea is one of the popular species of sea slugs known in southern California, and its scientific name is Okenia rosacea. It has a bright pink body and commonly seen tide pool areas close to San Diego and Los Angeles, but they are starting to migrate as far away as San Luis Obispo, the Bay Area, and the Humboldt County.

“It’s the same weather pattern that’s kept the rain from coming and…causing the drought we’re seeing on land,” said Nate Mantua, a climate scientist at the NOAA Southwest Fisheries Research Center in Santa Cruz.

According to him, the sea surface temperatures this winter are averaging about 57 and 58 degrees from the Farallones to Santa Cruz and Monterey Bay, compared with a normal winter range of 52 to 53 degrees. According to the expert, the north winds in the winter strengthen the California current and the upwelling water brings cold water to the surface from deep below. But this winter, he said, those winds have weakened, the upwelling has slowed and the water has warmed.

“We haven’t seen this much warming along the coast since the last El Niño,” Gosliner said. “While we’re thrilled to see this beautiful bloom of normally rare nudibranchs, we’re concerned about the long-term consequences of our changing coastal environment,” he added.

Philae Comet 67P lander could wake up by June from its current lost location

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The Philae lander that was delivered to the Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko by the Rosetta orbiter still remains lost to scientists on Earth, but they now have good reasons to believe that the robot might get enough sunlight to boot it up as early as March before trying to see if it could reestablish some communication link with Rosetta; and by May or June, it should have been sufficiently booted up to resume work again.

“We are already discussing and preparing which instruments should be operated for how long,” project scientist Stephan Ulamec.

The Philae went silent and into hibernation mode when it landed roughly on the surface of Comet 67P; however, its exact landing spot is currently unknown but it is believed to be some dark spot behind some cliff where sunlight is inaccessible – rendering it unable to recharge its batteries for normal functions.

Now, scientists are beginning to think there might be some positive side to the current location of the Philae. It is now understood that while the Philae lander was meant to land at a sunny portion of Comet 67P, the robot would have become too hot to survive as the comet neared the sun by March if it had landed at the expected sunny location.

However, its current location even though still unknown is believed to be some cool dark place behind some cliff, and that means it is in some cool resting place. The approach of the comet to the sun by March should afford it some exposure to sunlight, prompting it to wake up after its batteries are sufficiently recharged.

Scientists expect the comet to start behaving in new and exciting ways as it heats up and releases more of its frozen molecules, so Philae might get to take some pretty interesting readings.

Plenty to see in the sky as the solar system presents a masterpiece

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There are several highlights and spectacles worth waiting for, this month, which are expected to give a better sense of the dynamic and the ever changing solar system. Most of the stars that lighted the sky in January are slowly fading away, but others are also coming up and expected to light the skies all month long.

While Comet, Lovejoy is slowly fading away, Venus and Mars are slowly appearing and set to be part of the sky all month long. Venus is to be spotted loitering in the western sky after sunset in February sure to outshine everything in the night sky. The planet of love is known to orbit closer to the sun while shrouded in thick clouds mostly made of corrosive sulfuric acid that goes to hide her surface from view.

Jupiter is to be seen at its best as a slowly fading bright arcing through Perseus and Andromeda on February 6th. The planet is to rise at sunset and stay in the sky all night long. The planet began its westward motion towards the surface on Dec 9 last year, and it is to end this retrograde motion on April 8.

Something worth waiting for this month through a telescope is the appearance of mutual occultation and eclipses of Jupiter’s Galilean moons. All the four moons are to be lined in order, to the east side of Jupiter. Saturn, which is fainter than Venus on the other hand, will be rising up at around 4 a.m. this month and continue to rise an hour earlier with each passing day until it reaches its opposition on May 22.

Venus and Mercury are set to be prominent in the sky, having put a spectacle show last year, with Mercury dropping out of the evening sky, and Mars sinking lower while Venus climbs higher. Stars are also poised to put up a spectacle in the sky with Sirius Proycon and the twins stars of Castor and Pollux set to be dominant.

There will be no major meteor showers this month until April although five or six sporadic meteors associated with any comet may make an appearance each hour on clear moonless nights.

4.4 bn years old Black Beauty Meteorite discovered in Morocco could be from Mars

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A stunning ‘Black Beauty’ meteorite discovered in the desert of Morocco has got researchers believing it could be a piece of Mars crust. Initial investigations carried out by researchers concluded that the meteorite matches the orbital measurements of the Martian dark plains where Mar’s coating of red dust is known to be thin, with rocks underneath exposed.

Researchers from the Brown University carried out a carbon dating test on the meteorite consequently concluding it must be 4.4 billion years old and one of the rarest to ever land on the earth surface. The discovery is set to shed more light on the characteristics of Mars surface. The Meteorite has been dubbed ‘Black Beauty’ on the fact that it is not red as previously discovered meteors, but rather dark.

Black Beauty is unique compared to other meteorites ever landed on the surface of the earth as it is a conglomeration of different types of rocks. Earlier discovered meteors were found to be made of ingenious rocks made of cooled volcanic material. Sedimentary components found in Black Beauty according to researcher’s matches rocks analyzed on Mars by NASA.

Before Black Beauty came into the picture, most of the Martian rocks discovered on the earth surface were classified as SNC meteorites. Mars is believed to be punctured by over 40,000 impact craters that could be greater than 1Km in diameter. Because of brecciation, the bulk of rocks on the surface of Mars could look a lot like Black Beauty.

Researchers are already stating that the spectral found in Black Beauty helps put a clear picture of the dark planes found on Mars. The finding essentially suggests that Mars is dominated by brecciated rocks similar to those seen in Black Beauty. Recent research findings have already concluded that the dark planes in Mars are a clear representation of what hides beneath the red dust in much of the rest of the planet.

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