Welcome back to the Abstract! Here are the studies this week that died in the deep, let nature call, tossed a galactic salad, and became interstellar voyeurs.First, there\u2019s a whale necropolis under the sea that is packed with ancient carcasses and teeming with new species. Then: a bygone world preserved in poop, the fruits of the universe\u2019s labor, and a zoom lens for distant planets.\u00a0As always, for more of my work, check out my book First Contact: The Story of Our Obsession with Aliens, or subscribe to my personal newsletter the BeX Files.\u00a0A visit to the cetacean cemeteryPeng, Xiaotong; Zhou, Peng; Song, Xikun; Bianucci, Giovanni; Du. Mengran et al. \u201cA 5.3-million-year-old deep-sea whale necropolis in the Diamantina Zone.\u201d Nature.Scientists have discovered an unprecedented underwater \u201cnecropolis\u201d that contains the remains of hundreds of whales that died over the past five million years, scattered across 745 miles.During dives in a deep sea submersible, researchers spotted whale bones submerged under more than four miles of the Diamantina Zone in the Indian Ocean, making this site the geographically largest, deepest, and oldest whale necropolis ever found. The graveyard is also teeming with species that may be \u201cnew to science\u201d and subsist on these fortuitous \u201cwhale falls,\u201d according to a new study.\u201cThe discovery of whale-fall communities in the Diamantina Zone at depths exceeding 6,700\u2009meters establishes one of the deepest known whale-fall ecosystems in the ocean, extending the known depth range of such habitats by more than 2,500\u2009meters,\u201d said researchers co-led by Xiaotong Peng of China\u2019s Institute of Deep-sea Science and Engineering.\u201cThis area has a deep and extensive accumulation comprising five modern natural whale-fall communities and 476 fossil cetaceans recorded,\u201d the team said.Peng and his colleagues first spotted the necropolis during dives in early 2023 using the Fendouzhe submersible, which is capable of bringing crews to depths of nearly seven miles. The team quickly realized they had tapped into a scientific motherlode, complete with an immense fossil archive of extinct animals\u2014mostly deep-diving beaked whales\u2014along with recent whale falls that still support thriving ecosystems of crustaceans, molluscs, worms, and microbes.\u201cBone-eating worms, gastropods, vesicomyid bivalves and brittle stars dominate the megafauna (more than several centimetres in size), reaching local densities up to 2,840 individuals per square metre,\u201d the team said. \u201cMost recovered taxa may be new to science.\u201dAs for why this vast necropolis formed, beaked whales may be attracted to these deep waters due to the abundance of prey sources, such as squid and fish. Some might accidentally dive so deep that they experience decompression sickness or fatal exhaustion, becoming bonus bodies for seafloor ecosystems. The sinking carcasses are then funnelled into the Diamantina Zone because of its V-shaped topography, serving up a figurative feast for scientists (and a literal one for marine biota).Various remains in the necropolis. Image: IDSSE\u201cAs beaked whales are known primarily from rare strandings, their abundance, distribution and ecology remain poorly understood overall,\u201d Peng and his colleagues concluded. \u201cOur discovery of an accumulation of skeletal remains\u2026provides an unparalleled source of information on these largely enigmatic cetaceans.\u201dMariners have long dreaded ending up in Davy Jones\u2019 locker, the proverbial resting ground of drowned sailors. It turns out that whales have a whole locker room down in the deep, where the bodies of countless leviathans blossom into fleeting hotspots of life.In other news\u2026Bathroom blast from the past\u00a0Murchie, Tyler J. et al. \u201cGround squirrel coprolites preserve complex archives of ancient environmental DNA over 700,000 years.\u201d Nature Communications.The Klondike region of Canada\u2019s Yukon territory is famous for the 19th-century gold rush that led hopeful prospectors to riches, ruin, and early graves. But now, scientists have found a very different type of valuable nugget in Klondike soil\u2014ancient squirrel poops made by ancient squirrel bums as early as 700,000 years ago.Scientists sequenced ancient environmental DNA (aeDNA) from these permafrosted scats, thereby opening up a poopy portal into the past. The fossilized feces, known as coprolites, contained genetic traces of mammoth, saber-tooth cat, horse, and bison, suggesting that these Ice Age rodents may have gnawed on the corpses of much larger megafauna. The coprolites also preserved DNA from hundreds of plant species, several insects, and a bevy of microbial and fungal strains.\u00a0\u201cThe diversity and abundance of aeDNA recovered from the permafrost preserved, ground squirrel coprolites presented here underscores the immense value of Arctic rodent middens as repositories of Quaternary ecosystems,\u201d said researchers led by Tyler J. Murchie of the Hakai Institute and McMaster University. \u201cThe ecological and evolutionary power of coprolites would appear to exceed that of both bone and sediment.\u201dAs a bonus, the team refers to the rodent behind each coprolite as the \u201cdefecator,\u201d in case anyone is seeking inspiration for a disgusting superhero concept.\u00a0Eat your galactic green peas\u00a0Gupta, Maitrayee et al. \u201cBlueberry and Green Pea galaxies live in low-density environments.\u201d Astronomy & Astrophysics.The fruits of summer gardens are beginning to ripen here on Earth, but what about the pea patches and berry bushes of outer space? In a new study, astronomers examine a sampling of so-called \u201cGreen Pea\u201d and \u201cBlueberry\u201d galaxies, which are small and compact systems that have extremely high star formation (\u201cstarburst\u201d) rates.\u00a0Images of blueberry galaxies. Image: SDSS and Yang et al.Named for their green and blue hues, these starry objects are thought by some scientists to be similar to the first galaxies that lit up the universe during the epoch of reionization more than 13 billion years ago, making them useful analogues of primordial galactic evolution.\u201cWithin the diverse tapestry of galaxy populations, Green Pea and Blueberry galaxies represent particularly intriguing classes,\u201d said researchers led by Maitrayee Gupta of the Astronomical Institute of the Czech Academy of Sciences. The galaxies \u201cpresent an opportunity to gain a unique perspective\u201d on the processes \u201cdriving cosmic reionisation,\u201d the team added.To that end, Gupta and her colleagues observed a selection of these galaxies and found that they \u201cpredominantly reside in isolated, low-density environments\u201d which means that their intense starbursts are not driven by interactions with galactic neighbors, such as mergers. Instead, the team concluded that these recent starbursts are driven by internal processes, \u201creinforcing their role as nearby analogues of young, low-mass galaxies in the early Universe.\u201dIf you\u2019d like a more substantive galactic meal than peas and blueberries, may I recommend the Fried Egg Galaxy or the Hamburger Galaxy? Cap it off with a Milky Way for dessert.\u00a0Journey to the magic spyglass in spacePalos, Mario F. et al. \u201cCurved Space Telescope: E-sail concept to the solar gravitational lens focal region.\u201d Advances in Space Research.There is a sweet spot in the outer wilds of the solar system, about 650 times the distance between Earth and the Sun, where it is theoretically possible to peer across interstellar space and spot surface features of exoplanets\u2014including continents, oceans, or perhaps signs of life.This phenomenon, known as the solar gravitational lens, is caused by the Sun\u2019s gravity warping light from distant sources, essentially making it a stellar magnifying glass. It could be an incredible observational tool, but schlepping all the way out into the solar sticks is a huge challenge that has inspired a host of futuristic spaceflight concepts.\u00a0Concept art of an exoplanet observed through the solar gravitational lens. Image: Slava Turyshev\/NASANow, scientists have proposed sending \u201can E-sail propelled spacecraft\u201d called the Curved Space Telescope (CST) powered by the solar wind, a stream of charged particles emitted by the Sun. The probe would cruise through the solar system by deploying metallic tethers that tap into the solar wind and generate thrust from repulsion effects with its particles.\u201cOne of the most interesting scientific objectives for a mission like CST would be the search for proof of extraterrestrial life,\u201d said researchers led by Mario F. Palos of the University of Tartu. The team added that risky maneuvers, like slingshotting close to the Sun, would not be necessary for this mission, unlike previous proposals along these lines.E-sails have never been tested in space and it\u2019s anyone\u2019s guess whether we\u2019ll ever be able to send a mission to this interesting frontier. Still, it\u2019s amazing to think about capturing close-ups of aliens on faraway exoplanets through a starry lens.Thanks for reading! See you next week.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"