Table of Contents
Sharks wielding research cameras in the Bahamas, Mexico’s spider monkey diplomacy, a carbon “time bomb” in the Republic of Congo, and a lot far more in this month’s Speedy Hits

BAHAMAS
Biologists strapped little cameras on to tiger sharks to analyze seagrass in the Caribbean. The footage served broaden estimates of the world wide space of seagrass coverage by 41 percent—a good sign for the climate due to the fact seagrass suppliers carbon.
CHINA
Experts have struggled to recognize the creatures that still left guiding the world’s oldest skeletal remains—500-million-12 months-aged tubelike structures. Now a new assessment of specimens from Yunnan (like a unusual glance at their fossilized delicate tissues) implies the animals were jellyfish kinfolk that resembled sea anemones.
MALAYSIA
Researchers have manufactured stem cells making use of skin from Malaysia’s last male Sumatran rhinoceros, Kertam, who died in 2019. Changing these cells into feasible spermatozoa could help to conserve the critically endangered animal from extinction.
MEXICO
Archaeologists unearthing an administrative sophisticated of the ancient metropolis Teotihuacán uncovered the about 1,700-year-aged skeleton of a spider monkey that was not native to the location. Authorities suspect it was a gift from the neighboring Maya, pointing to previously unidentified animal-primarily based diplomacy.
REPUBLIC OF CONGO
A new examine suggests the Congo peatlands have alternated—every couple thousand years—between releasing carbon dioxide (when dry) and storing it (when soaked). This may perhaps signify the peatlands are a local weather modify “time bomb” established to launch stored carbon as they dry.
U.K.
A meteorite that landed in an English driveway has been uncovered to have drinking water with a ratio of hydrogen isotopes resembling Earth’s. This supports the notion that the youthful Earth’s water could have been introduced by asteroids.
This short article was initially posted with the title “Swift Hits” in Scientific American 328, 2, 18 (February 2023)
doi:10.1038/scientificamerican0223-18a