Want to hunt for black holes, but lack access to a mountaintop observatory or deep-space telescope? There’s an app for that—and you can help out astronomers by using it.

Developed by the Dutch Black Hole Consortium, an interdisciplinary research project based in the Netherlands, Black Hole Finder is a free program available both on smartphones and as a desktop website. After reviewing a quick tutorial, all you need to do is study images taken by BlackGEM, a telescope array in Northern Chile tasked with searching the skies for cosmic events called kilonovas. Although launched in March 2024, as Space.com noted on August 19, the project’s recently expanded from just English and Dutch to support Spanish, German, Chinese, Bengali, Polish, and Italian.

Due to the sometimes very high number of transients we have in one night we decided to make things simpler. Everyone who does more than 1000 transients will be granted the Super User status. After that you can help us do a follow up. The follow up process has also been updated. We disabled it a while ago as we were requesting a lot of follow-ups. So many that we ran out of telescope time at LCO. We now have new telescope time available and based on the brightness of the transient you will request a different follow up. Once you reach Super User status you will receive a notification, the tutorial becomes available for you and you can requests follow-ups for transients that are less than 16 hours old.

Formed during the collision of a neutron star and a black hole, kilonovas generate a blinding—but brief—burst of electromagnetic radiation, which sometimes also results in the creation of a stellar-mass black hole. Although 1,000 times brighter than a regular nova, kilonovas are between 1/10th and 1/100th the brightness of their much more well-known relatives, supernovas. This can make them difficult to spot, especially given their comparatively short lifespans. Each accurately identified kilonova offers astronomers a potential location to study further for evidence of newly formed black holes. But given there are thousands of images to peruse and less than 40 people in the Dutch Black Hole Consortium, the organization could use some citizen scientist volunteers.

After loading up the app, users are presented with a trio of grainy, black-and-white images of a single focal point—the newest available photo, a reference picture of that same region, and an overlay image displaying the difference between the first two photos. A real kilonova is characterized by a few key details. First off, they are round, extremely white shapes roughly 5-10 pixels in diameter. Comparing the new and reference photos, each kilonova’s brightness can vary in either image, such as fading, growing brighter, completely disappearing, and becoming newly visible.

[Related: Astronomers discover Earth’s closest black hole.]

False positives, however, are pretty identifiable based on their tells. No matter their cause—cosmic-ray interference, reflections, or data processing error—they aren’t rounded like kilonovas, don’t fall within the 5-10 pixel range, and often appear stretched or distorted. After examining each set, users then click whether or not their potential kilonova is “Real” or “Bogus,” and move on to the next entry. Don’t worry, though, if you’re stumped on a particular example, you can simply select “Unknown” to hedge your bets. Black Hole Finder even debuted a new phase on August 1 that opens up the possibility of becoming a “Super User” after reviewing 1,000 or more image sets. Once attained, Super Users can request the newest obtained follow-up images to review.

There’s no high score or prize payout to using the Black Hole Finder, but the knowledge that you are contributing to humanity’s understanding of astrophysics and the cosmos arguably beats bragging rights any day of the week.

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The dodo is one of the most iconic—and misunderstood—extinct animals. Four hundred years after its extinction, the popular narrative remains that the flightless bird was simply too dumb, slow, and ungainly to withstand modern society’s arrival to its native island of Mauritius. But researchers are seeking justice for the unfairly maligned dodo and its extinct relative, the solitaire, by synthesizing centuries of scientific literature, historical accounts, and biological information into a single work providing clarification and revised taxonomic records.

In a study published in the August 2024 issue of Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, a team collaborating between the University of Southampton, Oxford University, and the Natural History Museum attempted to correct the record for Raphus cucullatus. According to an accompanying August 16 announcement, the paper represents “the most comprehensive review of the taxonomy of the Dodo and its closest relative, the Rodriguez Island Solitaire.” Neil Gostling, the study’s supervising author and University of Southampton professor of evolution and paleobiology, argues that most people’s idea of the dodo isn’t simply inaccurate—it ignores the larger issues behind its extinction.

“If you picture the dodo, you picture… this dumpy, slightly stupid bird that kind of deserved to go extinct. That’s not the case,” Gostling says in a university video profile. “It was neither fat nor stupid, it was adapted to the ecosystem in the isle of Mauritius that it had been living in for millions of years.”

What the dodo and its sister species, the Rodrigues solitaire, were not adapted for, however, was the violent, colonizing force of modern society. Dutch sailors first encountered the dodo in 1598 after arriving on the island, located roughly 705 miles east of Madagascar in the Indian Ocean. Having evolved without any significant predators, the birds had no instinctual wariness of humans, making them easy prey for both hungry ship crews and international trade. In less than a century, the dodo was wiped out—but not due to their popularity on menus or in zoos.

The dodo’s main enemies weren’t humans themselves, but everything they brought with them while establishing a provisioning port for the Dutch East India Company on Mauritius. Livestock such as pigs trampled the ground birds’ nests, while rats devoured their eggs and small chicks. Meanwhile, dogs, cats, and other invasive animals preyed on the birds themselves while also competing for the island’s limited food sources. By 1662, the dodo was done. Barely a century later, the Rodrigues solitaire followed it into extinction. And with just 64 years of human documentation of the former, it didn’t take long before bird fact blended with bird fiction.

“The dodo was the first living thing that was recorded as being present and then disappeared,” Gostling said, adding that before their extinction, “it hadn’t been thought possible” that human beings could exert so much influence on the environment.

By the early 19th century, some circles even considered both the dodo and the solitaire “mythological beasts,” added Mark Young, a University of Southampton professor specializing in human transport and paper lead author. During the 1800’s, however, Victorian scientists finally proved both bird species did once exist. But over time, the dodo’s image transitioned largely from an emblem of humanity’s often disastrous environmental impact, to an inaccurate, misunderstood example of “survival of the fittest.” 

[Related: Dodos were actually not that dumb.]

Meanwhile, more than 400 years of subsequent taxonomic confusion led experts to debate just how many dodo and solitaire species originally existed—some biologists argued in favor of three separate variations, while others contended as many as five once roamed the region. These possibilities included the Nazarene Dodo, the White Dodo, and the White Solitaire, among others.

But after a painstaking review of four centuries’ worth of scientific writings and physical remains—including the only surviving dodo soft tissue—Gostling, Young, and their teammates believe they have some answers. Most notably, there were only ever the two species, dodo and solitaire, and they belonged to the columbid family along with pigeons and doves.

As for its “dumpy” reputation, a closer look at its anatomy indicates the dodo was far from a clumsy, slow-moving bird. Skeletal remains studied by the team show that the dodo possessed a tendon in its leg almost the same diameter as the bone itself. This feature can be found today in other avian species known for their speed and climbing agility, indicating the dodo was actually an incredibly fast and active animal.

“Even four centuries later, we have so much to learn about these remarkable birds,” Young said. “The few written accounts of live Dodos say it was a fast-moving animal that loved the forest.”

​​[Related: Is de-extinction only a pipette dream?]

Researchers believe that further reevaluations of the dodo and the solitaire will not only help dispel inaccurate myths, but refocus their legacies. Ultimately, their extinction isn’t the result of any evolutionary failings, but rather the effects of humans when we are at our most environmentally reckless. 

“Dodos held an integral place in their ecosystems. If we understand them, we might be able to support ecosystem recovery in Mauritius, perhaps starting to undo the damage that began with the arrival of humans nearly half a millennium ago,” Gostling explained, adding that, “There are no other birds alive today like these two species of giant ground dove.”

The post The dodo was faster and smarter than you think appeared first on Popular Science.

The honor of Egypt’s oldest necropolis belongs to Pharaoh Djoser, a ruler who ushered in the Old Kingdom’s Third Dynasty during the 27th century BCE. Constructed around 2,680 BCE in Saqqara, northwest of the ruins of Memphis, the six-tier, four-sided Step Pyramid of Djoser stood amid a large courtyard filled with decorative ceremonial structures. And while ancient Egyptians relied on a number of tools to help build the roughly 205-foot-tall structure, a new study indicates at least one previously unknown aid—a hydraulic lift system utilizing a nearby, longgone lake.

The evidence was made available on August 5 by an interdisciplinary team at France’s CEA Paleotechnic Institute writing in the journal PLOS One. After combining satellite imagery, geospatial data analysis, watershed information, and other techniques, the researchers hypothesize a previously unexplained structure near the Step Pyramid likely functioned as a “check dam” for capturing water and sediment. An ancient engineering structure dating back millennia, check dams are comparatively simple designs used to interrupt and slow water flows.

In the Pyramid of Djoser’s case, a water source appears to have channeled through multiple compartments, allowing the sediment to settle while passing through each successive chamber. After traveling through the compartments, some of the water then likely flowed into pyramid shafts built to help builders raise massive building stones to their desired positions. What is particularly interesting is that, although many societies didn’t use check dams for filtration, it appears the pyramid’s may have also served as an water treatment facility. Additionally, the Pyramid of Djoser’s dam predates some of the earliest known examples by hundreds, if not thousands, of years.

To illustrate the concept, researchers described a simple example of how ancient Egyptians may have operated such a hydraulic-check dam system. Based on their analysis, the team believes the lift’s floating platform rose to a maximum height of around 55 feet, but potentially employed modifications to ascend even higher using collapsible extension structures. After reaching the top of the pyramid, the lift platform may have also functioned as a counterweight through the use of pulley-and-rope systems. Combined with additional construction methods like ramps and levee systems, the hydraulic lift may have only been used intermittently when enough water was available. Even so, researchers stressed the lift’s potential existence fundamentally alters what experts believe ancient Egyptians were capable of creating.

[Related: ‘Screaming woman’ may solve a 3,500-year-old mummy mystery.]

“The hydraulic lift mechanism seems to be revolutionary for building stone structures and finds no parallel in our civilization,” they write in their paper, adding that its utility “is so significant that it seems beyond just building the Step Pyramid.” Combined with its water treatment capabilities, the architects’ planning would also “reflect their foresight in meeting various civil needs,” such as making the Saqqara region hospitable for permanent settlement, including agriculture, water access, and long term shelter.

The team argue their findings also raise the possibility that ancient Egyptians utilized similar systems in other Old Kingdom pyramids, and perhaps even earlier. The only way to know for sure, however, is to continue exploring and analyzing these ruins.

The post Egypt’s oldest pyramid may have been built using a hydraulic lift appeared first on Popular Science.

New analysis of a 3,500-year-old mummy known as the “Screaming Woman” may revise what makes for a “good” versus “bad” mummification—and potentially solve a mystery that has perplexed Egyptologists for years. 

During the 21st and 22nd Egyptian dynasties, priests oversaw the relocation of a trove of dynastic remains to the Deir el-Bahari Royal Cache in Thebes (near modern-day Luxor). While initial excavations began in 1881, the Metropolitan Museum of New York conducted a follow-up investigation into adjacent crypts in 1935. It was then that archeologists first uncovered the tomb of Senmut, the royal architect and rumored lover of Queen Hatshepsut (1479-1458 BCE). But beneath Senmut’s resting place lay another chamber, this one containing his mother, Hat-Nufer, and multiple unidentified relatives.

Recent examinations into one of those wooden coffins revealed a striking figure—the mummy of an older (for the time), richly adorned woman with a mouth frozen open as if screaming. Although not the first mummy found with such an expression, the anonymous woman’s anatomy and the preservation techniques used on her raised a question for experts. Usually, an open mouth is evidence of a poorly performed mummification, but this didn’t make sense given the Screaming Woman’s royal interment. Now, Egyptologists may finally have at least some answers about the Screaming Woman.

Radiology professor Sahar Saleem and colleagues at Cairo University’s Kasr Al Ainy Hospital have published a new study in the journal Frontiers in Medicine that provides never-before-seen, detailed looks at the mummy along with reliable theories about her health near the end of her life. Thanks to CT imaging, infrared spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, and other equipment, Saheer’s team theorize the open mouth may not be due to a shoddy burial, but rather the result of a cadaveric spasm in her final moments.

Scans indicate the woman, approximately 48-years-old, lacked multiple teeth at her time of death—these, however, were lost earlier in her life due to evidence of bone resorption, which occurs when an empty tooth socket reheals. According to Saleem, these may have even been extracted by a professional, as dentistry originated in ancient Egypt. Evidence of bone spurs on her vertebrae also indicates mild spine arthritis.

When it comes to the Screaming Woman’s bodily mummification, a surprising detail sticks out from everything else—the lack of an embalming incision. Egyptologists have long believed classic New Kingdom (1550-1069 BCE) mummifications entailed the removal of a cadaver’s organs except their heart, but the Screaming Woman appeared to still possess them when she was buried. Because of this, Saleen theorizes leaving organs inside a body may actually have been sometimes customary at the time.

As for how she was prepared for mummification, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) scans of the mummy’s skin revealed the presence of juniper and frankincense, luxuries that Egyptians would need to import from Southern Arabia, East Africa, or the Eastern Mediterranean. The woman’s natural hair was dyed with henna and juniper, but she also wore a long wig for the afterlife made from date palm fingers treated with albite crystals, magnetite, and quartz. These were often used to stiffen the wig’s locks and make them appear black to indicate a more youthful appearance.

“These findings support the ancient trade of embalming materials in ancient Egypt,” Saleem said in an accompanying statement, noting a previous expedition led by Queen Hatshepsut brought back frankincense, while Tutankhamun’s tomb also contained frankincense and juniper.

These embalming methods, combined with her well-preserved appearance, “contradicts the traditional belief that a failure to remove her inner organs implied poor mummification,” said Saleem.

While a definitive answer about the Screaming Woman’s cause of death remains a mystery, Saleem’s work indicates practices like organ removal weren’t always a defining feature of professional mummifications. If nothing else, the spooky visage is likely not due to a bad mummification job. Regardless, Saleem calls the Screaming Woman a “true ‘time capsule’ of the way that she died and was mummified.”

CORRECTION 8/2/2024 6:47AM: A previous version of this article incorrectly dated the Screaming Woman mummy as 2,500-years-old.

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