研究者らは、ガラパゴス諸島で採取されたチャールズ・ダーウィンのオリジナル標本が入ったほぼ200年物の瓶を乱すことなく内容物を調べるレーザー技術を開発した。この手法はSpatially Offset Raman Spectroscopyと呼ばれ、密封容器内の保存液の化学組成を明らかにする。この画期的な手法は、世界中の博物館が繊細なコレクションを保存するのに役立つ。
チャールズ・ダーウィンは1831年から1836年のHMS Beagle号航海中に標本を収集し、進化論の理論形成に寄与したガラパゴス諸島のサンプルを含む。これらの物品は現在、ロンドンのNatural History Museumで瓶に保存されており、哺乳類、爬虫類、魚、クラゲ、エビなどが含まれる。科学者チームは最近、これらの歴史的標本46点を、非侵襲的な手法を用いて容器を開封するリスクを避けるために研究した。
Chemists at the University of Bristol analyzed the air around tiny fragments of Egyptian mummies to identify volatile organic compounds linked to embalming materials. The study, covering remains from 3200 BC to 395 AD, found 81 distinct compounds from oils, resins, beeswax, and bitumen. These clues show mummification practices grew more complex over time.
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Researchers have uncovered how soft-bodied organisms from 570 million years ago were exceptionally preserved in sandstone, defying typical fossilization challenges. The discovery points to ancient seawater chemistry that formed clay cements around the buried creatures. This insight sheds light on the evolution of complex life before the Cambrian Explosion.
A new NASA study indicates that traces of ancient life on Mars could survive for over 50 million years in pure ice, protected from cosmic radiation. Researchers recommend future missions focus on drilling into clean ice deposits rather than rocks or soil. The findings, based on lab simulations, highlight pure ice as a potential preserve for organic material.
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Astronomers using the James Webb Space Telescope have identified the farthest jellyfish galaxy observed to date, located at a redshift of z=1.156. This galaxy, viewed as it appeared 8.5 billion years ago, features trailing streams of gas and young stars shaped by ram-pressure stripping in a dense cluster. The finding suggests that early universe galaxy clusters were more turbulent than previously thought.