📌 TOPINDIATOURS Eksklusif ai: Subsurface map of Antarctica reveals hidden terrain

What lies beneath Antarctica’s immense and impenetrable ice sheet? Until now, we didn’t fully know, but a new, groundbreaking study reached deeper than any other to discover a hidden world that might hold the key to predicting the future of the continent, as well as our world.

In a new, groundbreaking study published in Science, authors explained that “less is known about the topography beneath the ice of Antarctica than any other planetary surface in the inner solar system.”

As the least studied region in the known universe, this mysterious area, cloaked by the Antarctic Ice Sheet, “offers critical insights into its geological history and influences how the ice reacts to climate changes,” as study authors continued.

Scientists ventured into our planet’s icy frontier with satellite data and physics. They deciphered the complex movements of the ice as if reading a secret language, creating a map of a subglacial wonderland of mountains, deep canyons, and rugged hills, as per the BBC.

And this sub-surface map of Antarctica would aid climate scientists in understanding how glaciers will move as the ice continues to melt under the threat of climate change. The urgency surrounding the speed of their disappearance is one of the most significant uncertainties confronting us today.

Did these scientists just break new ground?

Is Narnia actually under Antarctica?

Antarctica has long sparked the imagination, characterized as the Earth’s southernmost, coldest, and driest polar desert. Ancient glaciers, expansive ice shelves, and towering mountain ranges create an awe-inspiring landscape. It also serves as a sanctuary for unique wildlife, including penguins and seals, while being a hub for extensive international scientific research.

Although previous surveys have provided insights, a lead climate scientist said to the BBC that the latest map was “a really useful product” because it fills crucial gaps that have persisted for decades. No researcher had penetrated these depths or mapped the ice sheet’s underlying terrain in such vivid, thrilling detail.

The research team analyzed the surface using high-resolution satellite imagery, followed by a technique in physics known as Ice Flow Perturbation Analysis (IFPA). They traced the landscape by studying how the ice moved around it.

Beneath a colossal 5.4 million square miles of ice sheet, the study documented a staggering 71,997 hills and mapped a valley that stretched 248.5 miles within the Maud Subglacial Basin. Beneath Antarctica, river channels stretched hundreds of miles, and some regions even evoked alpine landscapes, Live Science reported. Detected transitions between highland plateaus and low-lying basins revealed tectonic boundaries that hint at the dynamic geological processes at play.

Indeed, an entire world awaited researchers beneath the surface that exercised a direct influence on the surface.

The key to climate change

The wealth of valuable information unearthed by the study stands to become as immense in significance as the map, as the rapidly melting Antarctic ice remains one of the era’s biggest concerns.

As the BBC elaborated, this hidden topography will significantly influence the movement of glaciers. But most importantly, the speed at which they might disappear and displace themselves.

With the map, scientists can improve their predictions on how swiftly the Antarctic ice will contribute to global sea-level rise.

Read the study in Science.

🔗 Sumber: interestingengineering.com

📌 TOPINDIATOURS Eksklusif ai: 2-million-year-old skeleton reveals unexpected ape-l

A groundbreaking study published in The Anatomical has challenged previous assumptions about human evolution.

Scientists once believed that our early ancestors took a significant evolutionary leap away from apes around the two-million-year mark.

However, the discovery of an exceptionally well-preserved (though partial) Homo habilis skeleton in Kenya surprised researchers, as the individual exhibited signs of human intelligence while appearing remarkably primitive.

The oldest “homo” species may have still possessed ape-like characteristics, a fact previously unknown to scientists due to a lack of specimens. This skeleton has helped bridge a critical gap in the fossil record.

The oldest human was an ape

In 2012, study authors discovered KNM-ER 64061, a collection of 100 bones, at Koobi Fora on the eastern side of Lake Turkana in Kenya. Since the bones had been scattered, researchers required nearly a decade to confirm they belonged to the same individual, as reported by Ancient Origins.

Through painstaking effort, they reassembled the most complete H. habilis skeleton ever found. The assemblage includes fragments of the shoulder blades, pelvis, and sacrum, along with nearly complete upper and lower arm bones, a jaw, and teeth, according to Discover Magazine.

The individual was 23 inches tall and over two million years old, weighing between 65 and 70 pounds. Although it may have had a head more similar to a human’s than an ape’s, scientists were surprised to find that the overall body structure retained characteristics of older hominins. Specifically, the longer arms suggest a greater reliance on the upper body. Over time, this adaptation would likely evolve into shorter arms and longer legs.

While the head appeared more human-like, the upper body—which was analyzed alongside the few recovered lower-body fragments—still showed ape-like traits.

This finding was unexpected.

Based on the skeletal evidence, the researchers realized they had discovered a true hybrid of ape and human. The forearms resembled those of the well-known ancestor “Lucy,” whose anatomy indicated that her species lived in trees, as noted by IFL Science.

We were both ape and human

Since H. habilis is considered the first “Homo” species, it seems they occupied a transitional state rather than having fully transitioned into a modern human-like form. The shape of the pelvis suggested that this H. habilis walked upright, yet its forearms might not have evolved beyond those of its ape-like ancestors.

Were they just beginning to walk upright?

The skeleton appears to represent a crucial moment in human evolution; however, lacking physical evidence for definitive claims, the study authors could not make concrete statements.

“The relatively long forearm ofH. habilis may have enabled a greater degree of arboreal locomotion in this species than in H. erectus, but whether arboreality was indeed practiced by H. habilis must remain a matter of speculation,” the study authors stated via IFL Science.

Based on the assembled bones, humans had not yet fully transitioned to their modern appearance by the era researchers expected to find a specimen closer to human than ape—in fact, the opposite was discovered.

In reality, evolutionary change might take more time than we often realize. The forearms suggest a stronger link to apes, even as early humans began to stand on two legs.

“Going forward, we need lower limb fossils of Homo habilis, which may further change our perspectives on this key species,” a study author concluded in Discover Magazine.

The search is now underway for those missing lower limbs.

The study has been published in The Anatomical.

🔗 Sumber: interestingengineering.com