Dinosaur

• Including more than 350,000 known species, they dominate the ecological system, shape food webs and play a vital role in oxygen production.
• Plus, many of them are valuable commercial crops – think of roses, grains and tomatoes.

• A step change in research is shaking up the way scientists think about plants: they are far more complex and more like us than you might imagine.
• But not all scientists agree it is an angiosperm, due to the different definitions of flower organs.
• This is the largest known amber-preserved fossil flower, measuring about 3cm across and about three times as large as most floral fossils, showing beautiful details of this ancient flower.

Jurassic or Cretaceous?

• The timing of flowers’ evolution is still a matter of debate between scientists, but most scientists are in one of two camps: Jurassic or Cretaceous.
• Analyses using molecular data (DNA or protein sequences) suggest flowers could be much older than the fossil record shows – a Jurassic (145 million years ago) or even Triassic origin (201 million years ago).

Deciphering the past by molecular data

• One technique scientists use to determine the timing of evolutionary events is the “molecular clock”.
• This concept originated from the understanding that genetic mutations tend to accumulate at a constant rate across both time and species.
• To construct a molecular clock, researchers analyse gene segments that have been conserved throughout a species’ evolution.

Piecing the puzzle together

• Scientists examine fossil plants and observe the gradual changes in structures such as leaves, flowers and seeds over time.
• Comparing their anatomy allows researchers to identify similarities and differences between extinct and still-living species, or species in different clades.
• Biological traits which appear similar may be a result of convergent evolution, indicating changes in characteristics for environmental adaptation, rather than genetic similarity.

Mathematical approach can also help

• There is also a mathematical approach to estimating the age of angiosperms – for instance, using the Bayesian Brownian Bridge (BBB) method.
• This statistical model is a scientific formula that uses the distribution of fossils through time to estimate the age of a group.
• By using the BBB method, an international research team found that the origin of angiosperms supports a pre-Cretaceous hypothesis.

Ruolin Wu does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

• One of the best ways to find out is by looking at rocks from space.
• Sending spacecraft to asteroids or other planets to gather samples and bring them home is possible, but extremely difficult and expensive.
• Another option is to study space rocks that fall to Earth: meteorites.

Natural glasses

We’re all familiar with the human-made kind of glass found in windowpanes and kitchenware. But glass occurs in nature, too. Most of it is obsidian, the glass produced in volcanoes which has been known since ancient times.

• A much smaller amount of natural glass is produced by lightning strikes and asteroid impacts.
• When we find glass in nature, it can take careful forensic work to pinpoint what created it.

The meteorites recovered from the Henbury field are a type called IIIAB irons. They are remnants of the metallic core of an ancient shattered world and were eventually delivered to Earth. They’re essentially lumps of metal, comprised mostly of iron, nickel and cobalt.

Heavy metal–classic rock fusion

When the space rock struck at Henbury, the heat of the impact melted the meteorite along with rock from the ground. Some of this fused material formed molten droplets which was thrown from the craters and cooled to form thumb-sized lumps that look a lot like volcanic glass.

• This revealed the glass contained elements from the local sandstone as well as high levels of iron, nickel and cobalt – much more than we found in exposed rocks in the craters.
• These results suggest the glass is made of about 10% melted meteorite.
• The Henbury glass also contained elevated levels of chromium, iridium and other elements from the platinum group.

Meteorite glass around the world

• Such high levels of meteorite residue in glass have not been reported from other Australian craters.
• Similar glass has been described at two other sites, both younger and smaller than the largest Henbury crater (145m across).
• Our main motivation to search for meteorite residue in natural glass is that it provides ground-truth evidence for an impact with a celestial object.

More enigmatic glasses

• There are many reports of enigmatic natural glasses, in places such as Argentina, Australia and elsewhere, whose origins are ambiguous.
• In many cases no crater is known in the vicinity, such as Libyan desert glass.
• In the meantime, there are lots of interesting bush glasses that deserve a second look for clues of a cosmic heritage.

Aaron J. Cavosie has received funding from Australian Research Council and the Space Science and Technology Centre at Curtin University.

• The name in trusted nursery and toddler furniture expands its offerings to include fitted sheets, pillowcases and toddler pillows to happily transition youngsters from cribs to toddler beds.
• ST. LOUIS PARK, Minn., Feb. 29, 2024 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- BreathableBaby , recognized as a leader in safe sleep, announces the launch of the Toddler Bedding Collection , filled with happy and adorable prints and trendy solid colors to celebrate the move from crib to toddler bed.
• Toddlers will enjoy getting ready for bedtime with bedding adorned with rainbows, bears and dogs and other designs tailored to their interests.
• Now, with the Toddler Bedding Collection, the brand is a one-stop shop for nurseries and toddler rooms.

• The amazing superpowers of bugs are revealed —from fast flight to powerful exoskeletons, camouflage, swarms and more.
• Some star mineral specimens from one of the most mineralogically diverse places on the planet are coming to the Earth Gallery.
• From the mid-1980s to 2007, Haineault and his wife assembled the finest collection of minerals from Mont Saint-Hilaire, which the museum acquired in 2020.
• And, of course, the dinosaurs, dazzling minerals, awe-inspiring mammals and other great favourites of the museum’s permanent galleries continue to amaze and delight visitors, young and old.