Marine species relocating to poles as oceans heat up
Researchers studying data collected over a century on more than 300 marine animals, birds, and plants have concluded that many of these species are shifting towards the poles as the world’s oceans continue to heat rapidly. The team noticed that the wildlife showed a “general pattern” of shifting towards the poles while their numbers have reduced near the equator. More on the Independent.
Possible ancestor of all animals identified in Australian fossils
The 555 million year old fossils found in Australia seem to point to a common ancestor of all animals. These fossils are in the shape of rice grains, made up of small layers of microfossils. They are few millimetres in length and were deduced to be worms with a mouth and anus, a feature called bilateralism. The worm is now thought to be one of the earliest species to exhibit bilateralism and thus could be the ancestor of all animals. More on Evolution News.
Antarctic glacier retreated 5 km in 22 years
A glacier in Antarctica called the Denman glacier has retreated at an astonishing speed. The glacier has retreated by nearly 5 km in the past 22 years, losing nearly 250 billion tons of ice. As ice retreats, thicker and thicker ice melts, releasing a huge amount of freshwater into the ocean and changing the ocean permanently. The findings reveal the alarming pace of the changing ecosystem of Antarctica. More on Science Alert.
Interactive traffic maps show empty roads in world’s busiest cities
A new set of interactive traffic maps released by Mapbox and Buzzfeed show before and after coronavirus lockdown views of traffic data on the roads of the world’s major cities. The maps show data from cities like London, New York, Beijing, Paris, and San Francisco. More on Buzzfeed.
Also read: Harvard scientists find new ways to take sharper images of black hole