A 2-million-year-old skull that belonged to a distant human cousin named Paranthropus robustus was unearthed during an archaeological dig at the Drimolen cave system located close to Johannesburg, South Africa.

According to researchers from La Trobe University in Australia, the nearly-complete skull (which they labelled DNH 155) of the large-toothed, small-brained male hominin is the best preserved and earliest remains ever found of our distant cousin. Even though the skull is now put together, when it was first discovered, there were hundreds of small individual bones. (Pictures of the skull can be seen here.)

Paranthropus robustus had relatively large teeth and a small brain.

(Supplied)

Palaeoanthropologist Angeline Leece noted that Paranthropus robustus lived around the same time as Homo erectus. “But these two vastly different species — Homo erectus with their relatively large brains and small teeth, and Paranthropus robustus with their relatively large teeth and small brains — represent divergent evolutionary experiments,” she explained, adding, “While we were the lineage that won out in the end, two million years ago the fossil record suggests that Paranthropus robustus was much more common than Homo erectus on the landscape.”

Paranthropus robustus evolved to adapt to climate change.

It was previously thought that Paranthropus robustus lived in groups where large dominant males co-habited with smaller females; however, the male skull was actually pretty close in size compared to the female remains that were discovered at the same site.

This discovery seemingly sheds new light on human microevolution (the evolutionary change within a species in a short amount of time). In fact, it could be the best evidence so far of a human ancestor evolving in order to adapt to climate change. South Africa was believed to have transformed from a wet and lush environment to much drier conditions around two million years ago due to climate change. Because of the change, Paranthropus robustus would have had to evolve in order to survive the new climate – such as being able to chew on tougher plants.

Interestingly, the male skull was quite a bit smaller than other male skulls that were discovered in a nearby cave called Swartkrans; however, those skulls belonged to Paranthropus robustus who were around 200,000 years younger than the one found at the Drimolen cave system. And since the older male’s chewing muscles were not as strong as those found at Swartkrans, that would indicate that they evolved during that time period.

Archaeologist Andy Herries explained this further by stating that the species evolved enough to survive in South Africa for around a million years. “Like all other creatures on Earth, to remain successful our ancestors adapted and evolved in accordance with the landscape and environment around them.”

He went on to say, “We believe these changes took place during a time when South Africa was drying out, leading to the extinction of a number of contemporaneous mammal species,” adding, “It is likely that climate change produced environmental stressors that drove evolution within Paranthropus robustus.”

The research was published in Nature Ecology and Evolution where it can be read in full.

Scientists have discovered a large ancient lake bed that’s situated over a mile underneath ice in the northwestern part of Greenland. This is a huge news as it is the first ever discovery of its kind. While liquid water underneath ice has been previously found in Greenland and Antarctica, this is the first time that a fossilized lake bed with no current liquid water has been found that was formed when there wasn’t any ice in the area.

While the exact date of the lake bed is uncertain, it could be hundreds of thousands or even millions of years old. Fossils and chemical traces that should still remain in the lake bed would be exceptionally important in understanding the climate from ancient times in addition to experts predicting what may happen to the ice in the future.

Iceberg in Greenland.

But without being able to study the lake bed, it’s hard to know those exact details. “If we could get at those sediments, they could tell us when the ice was present or absent,” said Guy Paxman who is a postdoctoral researcher at Columbia University’s Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory and the lead author of the study.

Researchers were able to find the lake bed by studying data collected from airborne geophysical equipment that was able to get images of what was underneath the thick ice. This mission was part of a project called NASA’s Operation IceBridge which is the biggest ever airborne survey of the polar ice regions. It is able to capture three-dimensional views of the Antarctic and Arctic ice sheets, sea ice, and ice shelves. The flight surveys of Antarctica normally occur in October and November, while Greenland is usually surveyed between March and May. (Pictures can be seen here.)

The largely featureless surface of the Greenland ice sheet, as seen from the window of a P3 aircraft carrying geophysical instruments aimed at detecting geologic features underneath. 

(Kirsty Tinto/Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory)

Using geophysical instruments, scientists have mapped a huge ancient lake basin (outlined here in red) below the Greenland ice, covering about 2,700 square miles). Redder colors signify higher elevations, green ones lower. A stream system incised into the bedrock that once fed the lake is shown in blue. 

(Adapted from Paxman et al., EPSL, 2020)

A newly forming lake at the edge of the Greenland ice sheet, exposing sediments released by the ice. Such lake beds are becoming common as the ice recedes. 

(Kevin Krajick/Earth Institute)

As for the ancient lake bed underneath Greenland’s ice, the lake would have been approximately 2,740 square miles with a depth of between 50 and 250 meters (164 to 820 feet). The basin’s sediments are about three quarters of a mile in thickness, while there are a minimum of 18 stream beds that were carved into an adjoining bedrock.

Greenland

The lake may have been formed along a dormant fault line or perhaps a glacier carved out the spot and water slowly filled in as it melted. As for what types of sediments may be in the lake bed, it is currently unknown although previous discoveries of pollen along the edge of the ice sheet does indicate that plants (or possibly even forests) were once in that area and remains of those could be found hidden in the sediments.

The researchers wrote in part that the basin “may therefore be an important site for future sub-ice drilling and the recovery of sediment records that may yield valuable insights into the glacial, climatological and environmental history” although they would have to drill over a mile deep.

Their study was published in the journal Earth and Planetary Science Letters where it can be read in full.

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According to new research, Jupiter’s moon Europa may glow in the dark. The glow would be caused by Jupiter’s high-energy radiation hitting Europa’s ice-filled surface.

This illustration of Jupiter's moon Europa shows how the icy surface may glow on its nightside, the side facing away from the Sun. 

Photo: NASA/JPL-Caltech

Scientists at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in California conducted new research in order to find out how the glow would appear as well as the composition of the moon’s ice-filled surface. NASA has already confirmed salt compounds on Europa and with those combined with the water ice they would all react uniquely to the radiation as they release their own glows. Based on which compounds were reacting to the radiation, they could glow green, blue, or even white.

The research team recreated conditions similar to the surface of Europa and they created a piece of equipment called Ice Chamber for Europa’s High-Energy Electron and Radiation Environment Testing (or ICE-HEART) to see how the organic materials underneath the moon’s ice would react to radiation.

Europa

Murthy Gudipati from JPL and who is the lead author of the study explained their research further, “We were able to predict that this nightside ice glow could provide additional information on Europa’s surface composition. How that composition varies could give us clues about whether Europa harbors conditions suitable for life,” adding, “If Europa weren’t under this radiation, it would look the way our moon looks to us – dark on the shadowed side.” “But because it’s bombarded by the radiation from Jupiter, it glows in the dark.”

JPL’s Bryana Henderson who co-authored the study, weighed in by stating, “But we never imagined that we would see what we ended up seeing.” “When we tried new ice compositions, the glow looked different. And we all just stared at it for a while and then said, ‘This is new, right? This is definitely a different glow?’ So we pointed a spectrometer at it, and each type of ice had a different spectrum.”

The predicted glow will hopefully be seen and recorded when the Europa Clipper spacecraft flies by the moon while studying Jupiter. While it orbits Jupiter, the spacecraft will pass by Europa approximately 45 times with each flyby taking a different route so that almost the entire moon can be scanned and studied.

“It’s not often that you’re in a lab and say, ‘We might find this when we get there,’” Gudipati stated. “Usually it’s the other way around – you go there and find something and try to explain it in the lab. But our prediction goes back to a simple observation, and that’s what science is about.”

The spacecraft is scheduled to be launched sometime in the 2020s so we’ll have to wait a little while longer to hopefully see the glow. Until then, an illustration of what Europa’s nightside may look like while glowing can be seen here.

As for their study, it was published in Nature Astronomy where it can be read in full.

The saga of the Flying Saucer began with the pilot Kenneth Arnold, whose 24 June 1947 encounter at the Cascade Mountains, Washington State, kicked off the modern era of UFO sightings. At approximately 3:00 p.m. on the afternoon in question, Arnold was searching for an aircraft that had reportedly crashed on the southwest side of Mt. Rainier. At the time of its occurrence, Arnold’s encounter attracted the keen interest of not just the public and the media, but also that of the all-powerful Federal Bureau of Investigation. The following is a verbatim statement made by Arnold himself and taken from previously Secret FBI records of 1947 that confirm the Bureau’s deep interest in his strange encounter: “I hadn’t flown more than two or three minutes on my course when a bright flash reflected on my airplane. It startled me as I thought I was too close to some other aircraft. I looked every place in the sky and couldn’t find where the reflection had come from until I looked to the left and the north of Mt. Rainier, where I observed a chain of nine peculiar looking aircraft flying from north to south at approximately 9,500 feet elevation and going, seemingly, in a definite direction of about 170 degrees.”

Arnold stressed that the objects were approaching Mt. Rainier very rapidly and he was puzzled by their physical appearance: “I thought it was very peculiar that I couldn’t find their tails but assumed they were some type of jet plane. The more I observed these objects, the more upset I became, as I am accustomed and familiar with most all objects flying whether I am close to the ground or at higher altitudes. The chain of these saucer-like objects [was] at least five miles long.  I felt confident after I would land there would be some explanation of what I saw [sic].” No conclusive explanation for Arnold’s sighting ever surfaced, and the mystery regarding what he did or did not see has raged for more than half a century. Even the FBI – that was monitoring UFO activity in the summer of 1947 on a somewhat ad hoc basis – came away impressed by the report: “It is difficult to believe that a man of [Arnold’s] character and apparent integrity would state that he saw objects and write up a report to the extent that he did if he did not see them.”

As UFO sightings reached epidemic proportions across the USA in the summer of 1947, the military swung into action, and various studies and operations were formulated that ultimately unified into an official, investigative operation known as Project Sign. That project would, in 1948, make way for Project Grudge; and, finally, Project Blue Book. The latter continued until 1969. Collectively, the three projects concluded that no UFO sighting investigated officially had ever had a bearing on national security, and there was no evidence to indicate that any UFO sightings represented alien visitations. Of course, numerous claims, counter-claims, arguments and counter-arguments have been put forth by a variety of authors and commentators on whether or not some UFOs are indeed alien spacecraft, and whether or not elements of the US Government, military and intelligence community have systematically hidden evidence in support of that theory from the public and the media alike.

Two weeks after the encounter of Kenneth Arnold, Brigadier General George F. Schulgen, Chief of the Requirements Intelligence Branch of Army Air Corps Intelligence, met with Special Agent S.W. Reynolds of the FBI with a view to determining if the Army Air Force could solicit the assistance of the Bureau on a regular basis in its investigation of the UFO mystery. General Schulgen advised SA Reynolds that, “every effort must be undertaken in order to run down and ascertain whether or not the flying discs are a fact and, if so, to learn all about them.” An examination of the relevant files of the FBI demonstrates that, in the weeks following Arnold’s encounter of 24 June 1947, the foremost thought on General Schulgen’s mind was that the Saucers were…Russian in origin. He went further and confided in Special Agent Reynolds that, “the first reported sightings might have been by individuals of Communist sympathies with the view to causing hysteria and fear of a secret weapon [italics mine].” It was for this reason that the Army Air Force sought the FBI’s assistance.

General Schulgen guaranteed the FBI “all the facilities of [my] office as to results obtained,” and outlined a plan that would involve the FBI in both locating and questioning witnesses to UFO sightings to ascertain whether they were sincere in their statements that they had seen flying saucers, or whether their statements were prompted by “personal desire for publicity or political reasons [italics mine].” Similarly, in 1953, the Robertson Panel – a select group of consultants brought together by the CIA to look at the national security implications of the UFO controversy – recommended that a number of the public UFO investigative groups that existed in the United States at the time, such as the Civilian Flying Saucer Investigators (CFSI) and the Aerial Phenomena Research Organization (APRO), should be “watched” carefully due to “…the apparent irresponsibility and the possible use of such groups for subversive purposes [italics mine].” Indeed, the fear and concern expressed by the military, the CIA, and the FBI that implicated those in the Flying Saucer mystery had “Communist sympathies” or were following a covert, political agenda – the intention of which was “causing hysteria” and subversion – led to intense surveillance of practically anyone and everyone that delved into the subject, and particularly those that criticized the Government’s handling of the situation.

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