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Showing posts with the label Listen & Learn

Scientists study the inner ear to determine the origin of mammals

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Mammals can generate their own body heat and control their body temperature. This process is known as endothermic or warm-blooded. Scientists believe that may be the reason why mammals tend to dominate almost everything ecosystem . Warm-blooded mammals are more active than cold-blooded animals. They can live in different environments, from frozen poles to boiling deserts. And they breed faster. Soft tissue that will provide information about being warm or cold blooded is rare preserved in fossil . So paleontologists, or experts in the study of fossils, don’t know exactly when mammals evolved and turned into warm-blooded creatures. A group of scientists tried to answer that question in a study recently published in Natural . Ricardo Araújo is a paleontologist at the University of Lisbon. Araújo and a group of researchers proposed that the shape and size of inner ear structures called canals could be used to study body temperature. The movement of fluid through the ear canal helps

Japanese Researchers Plan to Create Earth's Gravity on the Moon

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Japanese researchers have released plans to recreate Earth’s gravity level on the moon. The effort aims to support plans by the United States and other countries to build long-term bases for humans on the moon. The low gravity on the moon will affect the humans living there in important ways. The American space agency NASA notes that the gravity on the moon’s surface is one-sixth the gravity we experience on Earth. How to “make” gravity Designers working on plans to recreate Earth’s level of gravity, known as “1 g,” on the moon proposed the use of a centrifugal system. Centrifugal force is created by circular motion. The centrifuge rotates very fast to force the material in it away from the center or axis point, NASA explains. This planned system will create false gravity in the enclosed space on the lunar surface. The project is a partnership between researchers at Japan’s Kyoto University and engineers at Japanese building company Kajima. The researchers say the centrifugal sys

Researchers Develop Sailing Plane Designed to Fly Over Mars

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American researchers have developed a light sailing craft designed to fly over Mars and collect data. Non-motorized aircraft are built to use natural winds pattern around Mars to operate for days. The aircraft is equipped with flight, temperature and gas sensors, as well as cameras. It is designed to collect data about the atmosphere and physical structure of the Red Planet. A working model of the sailplane was developed by engineers at the University of Arizona. The team is partnered on the project with Alexandre Kling, a research scientist with the American space agency NASA. Kling said in a statement the sailing craft could be a valuable resource in helping NASA study important areas above the Martian surface. “You have this very important and critical piece at the planetary boundary layer like in the first few kilometers above the ground,” he said. “This is where all the exchange between the surface and the atmosphere takes place.” Kling works at NASA’s Mars Climate Modeling Cen