Connect with us

Published

on

A lethal pulse of ultraviolet (UV) radiation may have played a role in Earth’s biggest mass extinction event, fossilized pollen grains reveal. 

Pollen that dates to the time of the Permian-Triassic mass extinction event, roughly 250 million years ago, produced “sunscreen” compounds that shielded against harmful UV-B radiation, the analysis found. At that time, approximately 80% of all marine and terrestrial species died off. 

For the study, which was published Jan. 6 in the journal Science Advances (opens in new tab) , a team of international scientists developed a new method of using a laser beam to examine the miniscule grains, which measure about half the width of a human hair and were found embedded onto rocks unearthed in southern Tibet, according to a statement.

Plants rely on photosynthesis to convert sunlight into energy, but they also need a mechanism to block out harmful UV-B radiation.

“As UV-B is bad for us, it’s equally as bad for plants,” Barry Lomax (opens in new tab) , the study’s co-author and a professor in plant paleobiology at the University of Nottingham in the U.K., told Live Science. “Instead of going to [the pharmacy], plants can alter their chemistry and make their own equivalent version of sunscreen compounds. Their chemical structure acts to dissipate the high-energy wavelengths of UV-B light and stops it from getting within the preserved tissues of the pollen grains.”

Related: 3.5 billion-year-old rock structures are one of the oldest signs of life on Earth

In this case, the radiation spike didn’t “kill the plants outright, but rather it slowed them down by lessening their ability to photosynthesize, which caused them to become sterile over time,” Lomax said. “You then wind up with extinction driven by a lack of sexual reproduction rather than the UV-B frying the plants instantly.”

Experts have long theorized that the Permian-Triassic extinction, classified as one of the five major extinction events on Earth, was in response to a “paleoclimate emergency” caused by the Siberian Traps eruption, a large volcanic event in what is now modern-day Siberia. The catastrophic incident forced plumes of carbon buried deep within the Earth’s interior up into the stratosphere, resulting in a global warming event that “led to a collapse in the Earth’s ozone layer,” according to the researchers. 

The pollen grain used in the work. It measures about half the width of a human hair (Image credit: Liu Feng/Nanjing Institute of Geology and Paleontology )

“And when you thin out the ozone layer, that’s when you end up with more UV-Bs,” Lomax said.

In their research, the scientists also discovered a link between the burst of UV-B radiation and how it changed the chemistry of plants’ tissues, which led to “a loss of insect diversity,” Lomax said.RELATED STORIES—After the ‘Great Dying,’ life on Earth took millions of years to recover. Now, scientists know why.

—Scientists just found a hidden 6th mass extinction in Earth’s ancient past

—830 million-year-old organisms found locked in ancient crystals could be resurrected

“In this case, plant tissues became less palatable to herbivores and less digestible,” Lomax said. 

Because plant leaves had less nitrogen, they were not nutritious enough for the insects that ate them. That may explain why insect populations plummeted during this extinction event.

“Often insects come out unscathed during mass extinction events, but that wasn’t the case here,” Lomax said. 

Continue Reading

World

Elon Musk hints 80-hour-a-week DOGE job for ‘high-IQ revolutionaries’ will be unpaid

Published

on

By

Elon Musk hints 80-hour-a-week DOGE job for 'high-IQ revolutionaries' will be unpaid

“Super high-IQ revolutionaries” who are willing to work 80+ hours a week are being urged to join Elon Musk’s new cost-cutting department in Donald Trump’s incoming US government.

The X and Tesla owner will co-lead the Department Of Government Efficiency (DOGE) with former Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy.

And in a post on X, the official DOGE account put out a call to arms for people to sign up and help “dismantle government bureaucracy”.

The post said: “We are very grateful to the thousands of Americans who have expressed interest in helping us at DOGE.

“We don’t need more part-time idea generators.

“We need super high-IQ small-government revolutionaries willing to work 80+ hours per week on unglamorous cost-cutting.

“If that’s you, DM this account with your CV. Elon & Vivek will review the top 1% of applicants.”

Read more:
Who is in Trump’s top team?
Trump’s cabinet signals tough stance on China

Elon Musk speaks after President-elect Donald Trump spoke during an America First Policy Institute gala at his Mar-a-Lago estate. Pic: AP Photo/Alex Brandon
Image:
Elon Musk speaking at an event held at Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate. Pic: AP Photo/Alex Brandon

In a reply to an interested party, Mr Musk suggested the lucky applicants would be working for free.

“Indeed, this will be tedious work, make lost of enemies & compensation is zero,” the world’s richest man wrote.

“What a great deal!”

When announcing the new department, President-elect Donald Trump said Mr Musk and Mr Ramaswamy “will pave the way for my administration to dismantle government bureaucracy, slash excess regulations, cut wasteful expenditures, and restructure federal agencies”.

Mr Musk has previously made clear his desire to see cuts to “government waste” and in a post on his X platform suggested he could axe as many as three-quarters of the more than 400 federal departments in the US, writing: “99 is enough.”

Continue Reading

World

At least 10 dead after fire rips through retirement home in Spain

Published

on

By

At least 10 dead after fire rips through retirement home in Spain

At least 10 people have been killed after a fire broke out at a retirement home in northern Spain in the early hours of this morning, officials have said.

A further two people were seriously injured in the blaze at the residence in the town of Villafranca de Ebro in Zaragoza, according to the Spanish news website Diario Sur.

Jardines de Villafranca nursing home following the fire.
Pic: AP
Image:
Two people remain in a critical condition following the blaze. Pic: AP

They remain in a critical condition, while several others received treatment for smoke inhalation.

Firefighters were alerted to the blaze at the residence – the Jardines de Villafranca – at 5am (4am UK time) on Friday.

Residents are moved out of the nursing home following the fire.
Pic: AP
Image:
Several residents were treated for smoke inhalation. Pic: AP

Those who were killed in the fire died from smoke inhalation, Spanish newspaper Heraldo reported.

The residence is home to 82 elderly residents.

Read more from Sky News:
Mass displacement in Gaza – people unsure where to go
Donald Trump picks vaccine sceptic as health secretary

Follow Sky News on WhatsApp
Follow Sky News on WhatsApp

Keep up with all the latest news from the UK and around the world by following Sky News

Tap here

The blaze started in one of the rooms, Fernando Beltran, the national government’s top official in the region, told reporters.

All of the victims were elderly residents, he added.

Relatives waiting for news outside the nursing home where least 10 people have died in a fire in Zaragoza, Spain.
Pic: AP
Image:
Relatives wait for news outside the care home. Pic: AP

Fire crews, paramedics and police officers remain on site, said a spokesperson for the regional government of Aragon who confirmed the fatalities.

It took firefighters several hours to extinguish the blaze, they said.

The cause of the fire is unknown and is being investigated.

Continue Reading

US

Elon Musk hints 80-hour-a-week DOGE job for ‘high-IQ revolutionaries’ will be unpaid

Published

on

By

Elon Musk hints 80-hour-a-week DOGE job for 'high-IQ revolutionaries' will be unpaid

“Super high-IQ revolutionaries” who are willing to work 80+ hours a week are being urged to join Elon Musk’s new cost-cutting department in Donald Trump’s incoming US government.

The X and Tesla owner will co-lead the Department Of Government Efficiency (DOGE) with former Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy.

And in a post on X, the official DOGE account put out a call to arms for people to sign up and help “dismantle government bureaucracy”.

The post said: “We are very grateful to the thousands of Americans who have expressed interest in helping us at DOGE.

“We don’t need more part-time idea generators.

“We need super high-IQ small-government revolutionaries willing to work 80+ hours per week on unglamorous cost-cutting.

“If that’s you, DM this account with your CV. Elon & Vivek will review the top 1% of applicants.”

Read more:
Who is in Trump’s top team?
Trump’s cabinet signals tough stance on China

Elon Musk speaks after President-elect Donald Trump spoke during an America First Policy Institute gala at his Mar-a-Lago estate. Pic: AP Photo/Alex Brandon
Image:
Elon Musk speaking at an event held at Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate. Pic: AP Photo/Alex Brandon

In a reply to an interested party, Mr Musk suggested the lucky applicants would be working for free.

“Indeed, this will be tedious work, make lost of enemies & compensation is zero,” the world’s richest man wrote.

“What a great deal!”

When announcing the new department, President-elect Donald Trump said Mr Musk and Mr Ramaswamy “will pave the way for my administration to dismantle government bureaucracy, slash excess regulations, cut wasteful expenditures, and restructure federal agencies”.

Mr Musk has previously made clear his desire to see cuts to “government waste” and in a post on his X platform suggested he could axe as many as three-quarters of the more than 400 federal departments in the US, writing: “99 is enough.”

Continue Reading

Trending