We have obtained extensive photometric observations of the polluted white dwarf WD 1145+017 which has been reported to be transited by at least one, and perhaps several, large asteroids with dust emission. Observation sessions on 37 nights spanning 2015 November to 2016 January with small to modest size telescopes have detected 237 significant dips in flux. Periodograms reveal a significant periodicity of 4.5004 hours consistent with the dominant ("A") period detected with K2. The folded light curve shows an hour-long depression in flux with a mean depth of nearly 10%. This depression is, in turn, comprised of a series of shorter and sometimes deeper dips which would be unresolvable with K2. We also find numerous dips in flux at other orbital phases. Nearly all of the dips associated with this activity appear to drift systematically in phase with respect to the "A" period by about 2.5 minutes per day with a dispersion of ∼0.5 min/d, corresponding to a mean drift period of 4.4928 hours. We are able to track ∼15 discrete drifting features. The "B"-"F" periods found with K2 are not detected, but we would not necessarily have expected to see them. We explain the drifting motion as due to smaller fragmented bodies that break off from the asteroid and go into a slightly smaller orbit. In this interpretation, we can use the drift rate to determine the mass of the asteroid, which we find to be ≈ 10 23 grams, or about 1/10th the mass of Ceres.

Highlights d Support Deinonychosauria as sister taxon to birds and Anchiornithinae as early birds d Powered flight potential evolved R3 times: once in birds and twice in dromaeosaurids d Many ancestors of bird relatives neared thresholds of powered flight potential d Broad experimentation with wing-assisted locomotion before theropod flight evolved

BackgroundApproximately two hundred human burials were discovered on the edge of a paleolake in Niger that provide a uniquely preserved record of human occupation in the Sahara during the Holocene (∼8000 B.C.E. to the present). Called Gobero, this suite of closely spaced sites chronicles the rapid pace of biosocial change in the southern Sahara in response to severe climatic fluctuation.Methodology/Principal FindingsTwo main occupational phases are identified that correspond with humid intervals in the early and mid-Holocene, based on 78 direct AMS radiocarbon dates on human remains, fauna and artifacts, as well as 9 OSL dates on paleodune sand. The older occupants have craniofacial dimensions that demonstrate similarities with mid-Holocene occupants of the southern Sahara and Late Pleistocene to early Holocene inhabitants of the Maghreb. Their hyperflexed burials compose the earliest cemetery in the Sahara dating to ∼7500 B.C.E. These early occupants abandon the area under arid conditions and, when humid conditions return ∼4600 B.C.E., are replaced by a more gracile people with elaborated grave goods including animal bone and ivory ornaments.Conclusions/SignificanceThe principal significance of Gobero lies in its extraordinary human, faunal, and archaeological record, from which we conclude the following: The early Holocene occupants at Gobero (7700–6200 B.C.E.) were largely sedentary hunter-fisher-gatherers with lakeside funerary sites that include the earliest recorded cemetery in the Sahara.Principal components analysis of craniometric variables closely allies the early Holocene occupants at Gobero with a skeletally robust, trans-Saharan assemblage of Late Pleistocene to mid-Holocene human populations from the Maghreb and southern Sahara.Gobero was abandoned during a period of severe aridification possibly as long as one millennium (6200–5200 B.C.E).More gracile humans arrived in the mid-Holocene (5200–2500 B.C.E.) employing a diversified subsistence economy based on clams, fish, and savanna vertebrates as well as some cattle husbandry.Population replacement after a harsh arid hiatus is the most likely explanation for the occupational sequence at Gobero.We are just beginning to understand the anatomical and cultural diversity that existed within the Sahara during the Holocene.

SummaryCountershading was one of the first proposed mechanisms of camouflage [1, 2]. A dark dorsum and light ventrum counteract the gradient created by illumination from above, obliterating cues to 3D shape [3, 4, 5, 6]. Because the optimal countershading varies strongly with light environment [7, 8, 9], pigmentation patterns give clues to an animal’s habitat. Indeed, comparative evidence from ungulates [9] shows that interspecific variation in countershading matches predictions: in open habitats, where direct overhead sunshine dominates, a sharp dark-light color transition high up the body is evident; in closed habitats (e.g., under forest canopy), diffuse illumination dominates and a smoother dorsoventral gradation is found. We can apply this approach to extinct animals in which the preservation of fossil melanin allows reconstruction of coloration [10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15]. Here we present a study of an exceptionally well-preserved specimen of Psittacosaurus sp. from the Chinese Jehol biota [16, 17]. This Psittacosaurus was countershaded [16] with a light underbelly and tail, whereas the chest was more pigmented. Other patterns resemble disruptive camouflage, whereas the chin and jugal bosses on the face appear dark. We projected the color patterns onto an anatomically accurate life-size model in order to assess their function experimentally. The patterns are compared to the predicted optimal countershading from the measured radiance patterns generated on an identical uniform gray model in direct versus diffuse illumination. These studies suggest that Psittacosaurus sp. inhabited a closed habitat such as a forest with a relatively dense canopy.Video Abstract

Astronomers have discovered thousands of planets outside the solar system 1 , most of which orbit stars that will eventually evolve into red giants and then into white dwarfs. During the red giant phase, any close-orbiting planets will be engulfed by the star 2 , but more distant planets can survive this phase and remain in orbit around the white dwarf 3,4 . Some white dwarfs show evidence for rocky material floating in their atmospheres 5 , in warm debris disks [6][7][8][9] , or orbiting very closely [10][11][12] , which has been interpreted as the debris of rocky planets that were scattered inward and tidally disrupted 13 . Recently, the discovery of a gaseous debris disk with a composition similar to ice giant planets 14 demonstrated that massive planets might also find their way into tight orbits around white dwarfs, but it is unclear whether the planets can survive the journey. So far, the detection of intact planets in close orbits around white dwarfs has remained elusive. Here, we report the discovery of a giant planet candidate transiting the white dwarf WD 1856+534 (TIC 267574918) every 1.4 days. The planet candidate is roughly the same size as Jupiter and is no more than 14 times as massive (with 95% confidence). Other cases of white dwarfs with close brown dwarf or stellar companions are explained as the consequence of common-envelope evolution, wherein the original orbit is enveloped during the red-giant phase and shrinks due to friction. In this case, though, the low mass and relatively long orbital period of the planet candidate make common-envelope evolution less likely. Instead, the WD 1856+534 system seems to demonstrate that giant planets can be scattered into tight orbits without being tidally disrupted, and motivates searches for smaller transiting planets around white dwarfs. WD 1856+534 (hereafter, WD 1856 for brevity) is located 25 parsecs away in a visual triple star system. It has an effective temperature of 4710 ± 60 Kelvin and became a white dwarf 5.9 ± 0.5 billion years ago, based on theoretical models for how white dwarfs cool over time. The total system age, including the star's main sequence lifetime, must be older. Table 1 gives the other key parameters of the star. WD 1856 is one of thousands of white dwarfs that was targeted for observations with NASA's Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS ), in order to search for any periodic dimming events caused by planetary transits. A statistically significant transit-like event was detected by the TESS Science Processing Operations Center (SPOC) pipeline based

No abstract

A scanning electron microscope survey was initiated to determine if the previously reported findings of “dinosaurian soft tissues” could be identified in situ within the bones. The results obtained allowed a reinterpretation of the formation and preservation of several types of these “tissues” and their content. Mineralized and non-mineralized coatings were found extensively in the porous trabecular bone of a variety of dinosaur and mammal species across time. They represent bacterial biofilms common throughout nature. Biofilms form endocasts and once dissolved out of the bone, mimic real blood vessels and osteocytes. Bridged trails observed in biofilms indicate that a previously viscous film was populated with swimming bacteria. Carbon dating of the film points to its relatively modern origin. A comparison of infrared spectra of modern biofilms with modern collagen and fossil bone coatings suggests that modern biofilms share a closer molecular make-up than modern collagen to the coatings from fossil bones. Blood cell size iron-oxygen spheres found in the vessels were identified as an oxidized form of formerly pyritic framboids. Our observations appeal to a more conservative explanation for the structures found preserved in fossil bone.

No abstract