Gizmorama - November 10, 2014

Good Morning,

The Atacama Large Millimeter Array is a radio telescope that is making it possible to witness the birth of new planets around a sun-like star called HL Tau, which lies 450 light-years from Earth. How amazing would that be to see the creation of a new solar system? Amazing!

Learn about this and more interesting stories from the scientific community in today's issue.

Until Next Time,
Erin

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*-- Lack of oxygen delayed development of complex life on Earth --*
HOBART, Australia (UPI) - The explosion of animal life some 800 million years ago wasn't simply the product of a tipping point in genetic diversity, but was enabled by an uptick in the Earth's oxygen levels.

Prior to the proliferation of animal life, during the first billion years in Earth's history, atmospheric oxygen levels were too low to support complex organisms.

"No one really doubted that oxygen levels were low, but how low is the real surprise," Peter McGoldrick researcher at the University of Tasmania, told Australia's ABC Science. McGoldrick is one of the authors of a new study on Earth's ancient oxygen levels; the study was published Monday in the journal Science.

"Our work shows those levels were just 0.1 per cent of present atmospheric levels, which is significant from an evolutionary point of view because biologists believe that complex multicellular life forms require much more oxygen than 0.1 per cent," McGoldrick said.

Though researchers have long hypothesized that the delay in the development of complex creatures was at least partially the result of low oxygen levels. But scientists couldn't quite be sure.

"Our research now shows empirical evidence for a surface oxygen level that would have inhibited animal evolution," study co-author Noah Planavsky, researcher at Yale University's Department of Geology and Geophysics, told BBC News.

Building on previous research, McGoldrick, Planavsky and others amassed ancient rock samples from all over the globe, allowing them to more precisely measure the levels of oxygen present some 800 million years ago. The scientists were able to approximate oxygen levels by analyzing the chromium isotope ratios the iron ore samples.

But not everyone's convinced.

Nicholas Butterfield, a professor at Cambridge University's department of Earth Sciences, told BBC News that the role of oxygen levels played in dictating evolution is being overstated by the new research.

"The reason it took so long for animals to appear on the scene is it took an extraordinary long time to assemble the extraordinarily complex developmental machinery that builds even a simple animal," Butterfield said. "It's the most complex recipe that evolution has ever derived."


*- Radio telescope captures birth of new planets -*
ATACAMA DESERT, Chile (UPI) - Watching a child enter the world is pretty special, and the rare birth of a panda in captivity is a sight to behold, but for astronomers, nothing beats seeing the formation of a brand new planet.

Recently, the Atacama Large Millimeter Array made it possible to witness just that. ALMA's resume now boasts some of the most detailed images of planet formation ever captured. The budding solar system is forming around a sun-like star called HL Tau, which lies 450 light-years from Earth.

"Most of what we know about planet formation today is based on theory," Tim de Zeeuw -- the head of the European Southern Observatory, one of the partners in the management of ALMA -- told the BBC. "Images with this level of detail have up to now been relegated to computer simulations or artist's impressions."

Stargazers armed with a high-powered telescope can find HL Tau, which is less than a million years old, shining near the constellation Taurus. Natural light doesn't allow for just any telescope to witness the intricacies of HL Tau's planet formation. It's shrouded in a cloudy haze of dust and gas. But ALMA's sophisticated array of radio telescopes allows astronomers to penetrate the cosmic cloud.

"I think it's phenomenal," Aprajita Verma, an astrophysicist at the University of Oxford, told the BBC. "This shows how exciting Alma is going to be -- it's going to be an incredible instrument."

ALMA is located in the Atacama desert of northern Chile.

Looking through the haze, astronomers have been able to pick out orbital paths cleared as newly formed planets circle through the HL Tau's disk of debris, pulling in new planet-worthy materials with their growing centers of gravity.

"When we first saw this image we were astounded at the spectacular level of detail," Catherine Vlahakis, ALMA Deputy Program Scientist, said in a press release. "HL Tauri is no more than a million years old, yet already its disc appears to be full of forming planets. This one image alone will revolutionize theories of planet formation."

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