Science News Roundup: Oldest DNA on record - 2 million years - reveals Greenland's lost world; Study shows dinosaurs were 'struck down in their prime' by asteroid and more

Following is a summary of current science news briefs. Oldest DNA on record - 2 million years - reveals Greenland's lost world Scientists have identified DNA from animals, plants and microbes dating to about 2 million years ago - the oldest on record by far - from sediment at Greenland's northernmost point dug up around the mouth of an Arctic Ocean fjord, revealing an amazing lost world at this remote frontier.


Devdiscourse News Desk | Updated: 09-12-2022 18:29 IST | Created: 09-12-2022 18:28 IST
Science News Roundup: Oldest DNA on record - 2 million years - reveals Greenland's lost world; Study shows dinosaurs were 'struck down in their prime' by asteroid and more
Representative Image Image Credit: ANI

Following is a summary of current science news briefs.

Oldest DNA on record - 2 million years - reveals Greenland's lost world

Scientists have identified DNA from animals, plants and microbes dating to about 2 million years ago - the oldest on record by far - from sediment at Greenland's northernmost point dug up around the mouth of an Arctic Ocean fjord, revealing an amazing lost world at this remote frontier. Researchers said on Wednesday fragments of DNA were detected for a panoply of animals including mastodons, reindeer, hares, lemmings and geese as well as plants including poplar, birch and thuja trees and microorganisms including bacteria and fungi. DNA is the self-replicating material carrying genetic information in living organisms - sort of a blueprint of life.

Study shows dinosaurs were 'struck down in their prime' by asteroid

The age of dinosaurs ended in cataclysm one spring day 66 million years ago when an asteroid 7.5 miles (12 km) wide hit Mexico's Yucatan peninsula, triggering the extinction of those remarkable beasts and about three-quarters of Earth's species. But were the dinosaurs already on the way out, with diversification faltering and rates of evolution sputtering, as some scientists have proposed? The answer is a definite "no," according to a new study that modeled food chains and ecological habitats in North America, the part of the world best represented in the fossil record from that time.

Japanese billionaire Maezawa picks K-pop star TOP, DJ Steve Aoki to join SpaceX moon trip

Japanese billionaire Yusaku Maezawa revealed on Friday that K-pop star TOP and DJ Steve Aoki will be among the eight crew members he plans to take on a trip around the moon as soon as next year, hitching a ride on one of Elon Musk's SpaceX rockets. Maezawa bought every seat on the maiden lunar voyage, which has been in the works since 2018 and would follow his trip on a Soyuz spacecraft to the International Space Station (ISS) for a 12-day stint last year.

 

(With inputs from agencies.)

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