A faster way to forecast alien weather

Decomposers are crucial for keeping Earth habitable, breaking down dead biomass and returning key nutrients, such as carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus, to the ecosystem. Most decomposers, including fungi, survive through osmotrophy—a means of feeding by absorbing dissolved nutrients rather than engulfing prey. But how this method of feeding repeatedly arose across the eukaryotic tree of life remains unclear.

Fire began crackling like approaching rain on a recent morning in the Xerente Indigenous Territory in Tocantins in northern Brazil. But the Indigenous residents weren't afraid and didn't rush to put it out.

Researchers from Tokyo Metropolitan University have used simulations to show that a newly developed, compact X-ray telescope could be used to map the chemical composition of the entire lunar surface, a vital breakthrough for understanding its geological evolution. Detailed modeling of the detector and a realistic satellite mission show that two years would be enough to map five key elements, while an array of 5-by-5 detectors could improve resolution and get results faster.

Recent research showed that an artificially constructed self-replicating RNA system modeling primitive life at the origin of life evolved to become more prone to extinction under certain experimental conditions.