Monday, February 5, 2024

4342 - SEA MONSTER - on other planets?

 

-    4342  -  SEA  MONSTER  -  on other planets?   72 million-year-old 'blue dragon' unearthed in Japan is unlike anything we've ever seen.  The near-complete remains of a never-before-seen “mosasaur' that dominated the ancient Pacific Ocean have been unearthed in Japan. The great white shark-size creature is unlike any other aquatic animal, dead or alive.

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-------------------------  4342  -  SEA  MONSTER  -  on other planets? 

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-    Mosasaurs are a group of apex marine predators that ruled the oceans toward the end of the Cretaceous period. Unlike the mosasaur, the "blue dragon" had unusually large rear flippers and a dorsal fin. 

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-    The near-complete remains of an ancient, great white shark-size sea monster that likely terrorized the ancient oceans it used to inhabit. The prehistoric predator, which researchers have named "blue dragon," has an unusual body plan that sets it apart from its extinct relatives and is unlike any living creature.

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-    The exceptional fossils, which are around 72 million years old, were discovered along the Aridagawa River in Wakayama Prefecture on Honshu island. They belong to a never-before-seen species of mosasaur which is a group of air-breathing aquatic reptiles that were apex marine predators during the Cretaceous period,145 million to 66 million years ago

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-    Like other mosasaurs it had a dolphin-like torso with four paddle-like flippers, an alligator-shaped snout and a long tail. But it also had a dorsal fin like a shark or dolphin, which is not seen in any other mosasaur species.

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-    What confused researchers the most was the size of the new mosasaur's rear flippers, which were even longer than their front flippers. Not only is this a first among mosasaurs but it is also extremely uncommon among all living and extinct aquatic species.

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-   Almost all swimming animals have their largest flippers toward the front of their bodies, which helps them steer through the water. Having larger flippers at the rear of the body would be like driving a car by steering the rear wheels instead of the front ones, which would make it much harder to turn quickly.

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-    The researchers suspect that instead of using the rear flippers to turn, it angled them upward or downward to quickly dive down or ascend through the water column, which may have helped make them adept hunters. The dorsal fin could have made it easier for the creature to turn, which may have counteracted the extra drag from the rear flippers.

-   It was about the same size as great white sharks, which grow to around 16 feet  long. But other species could grow up to 56 feet.

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-   Mosasaurs emerged around 100 million years ago and died off around 66 million years ago along with the nonavian dinosaurs after a massive asteroid struck Earth. During the last 20 million years of their existence, the terrifying sea lizards were the aquatic equivalent of Tyrannosaurs rex and sat at the top of the food chain, thanks in part to the disappearance of other top marine predators.

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-  What type of creatures occupy the ocean on other planets?    Liquid water on exoplanets is the key to finding life among the stars, and now, scientists have proposed a new strategy that might improve the  chances of finding it.

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-    Researchers hypothesized that if the atmosphere of an exoplanet has less CO2 than its neighbors, there may be vast quantities of water on its surface or even life, sea life.

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-   Currently, finding liquid water on planets outside the solar system is a major challenge. Of the 5,000 or so exoplanets we've discovered, liquid water hasn't  been confirmed on any. The best scientists can do is detect traces of water in exoplanet atmospheres and determine whether planets could theoretically support water in the liquid state.

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-    We know that initially, the Earth's atmosphere used to be mostly CO2, but then the carbon dissolved into the ocean and made the planet able to support life for the last four billion years.

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-    Once carbon is dissolved in the oceans, tectonic activity then locks it away in Earth's crust, creating an effective carbon sink. This is partly why our planet has significantly lower CO2 levels compared with our neighbors.  Earth's atmosphere is around 0.04% CO2, whereas the atmospheres on Venus and Mars are both over 95% CO2.

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-   If scientists observe a similarly low-carbon atmosphere on an exoplanet, it could indicate the presence of vast oceans similar to our own.  Looking for CO2 is easier than finding liquid water. CO2 absorbs infrared radiation very well, meaning it produces a strong signal that scientists can detect.

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-    It's also possible to perform this technique with existing telescopes, such as the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST). Ground-based observations should also be possible because of the specific wavelength CO2 is measured at, whereas Earth's atmosphere can torpedo experiments at other wavelengths by partially absorbing the signals.

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-    Another scenario could contribute to an atmosphere low in carbon: life itself. The main ways life on our planet captures carbon are through photosynthesis and making shells, and around 20% of all carbon capture on Earth is caused by biological processes.

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-    By leveraging the signature of carbon dioxide, not only can we infer the presence of liquid water on a faraway planet, but it also provides a path to identify life itself.

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-    JWST found the signature of water on exoplanet WASP-96B. A new technique may make it even easier for telescopes like JWST to find water.

NASA identifies 17 planets with possible subsurface oceans, and they could be fit for life.

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-    Although the approach looks like it'll work in principle, there may still be hurdles, as it's not clear how many terrestrial exoplanets also have atmospheres.

As researchers keep discovering more exoplanets, more atmospheres will also be spotted. And this technique could help figure out whether they could sustain life.

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February 4, 2023         SEA  MONSTER  -  on other planets?         4342

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