CaaC (John)

Australian man fights off one of the world's deadliest snakes while driving on a highway (CNN) - When a traffic officer pulled over a pickup truck on an Australian highway, he didn't expect to find one of the world's deadliest snakes inside. The driver, a 27-year-old man identified only as "Jimmy" in a police news release published Tuesday, was heading down the Dawson Highway in the state of Queensland at 100 kilometres per hour (62 mph) when he noticed a reptile in the vehicle. It was an eastern brown snake -- highly venomous, and responsible for the majority of snakebite deaths in Australia. "The more I moved my legs ... it just started to wrap around me. Its head just started striking at the (driver's seat) chair, between my legs," Jimmy said in the news release. He then used a seat belt and a nearby knife to fight it off -- while trying to stop the car. Jimmy thought he had been bitten in the ensuing tussle, and feared for his life. Eastern brown snake bites are fast-acting and fatal, and the venom can cause paralysis and bleeding into the brain. So Jimmy killed the snake, hit the accelerator and headed for the nearest hospital. That's when a police officer spotted his car, driving at 123 kilometres per hour (about 76 mph) and pulled him over. The Eastern brown snake that Jimmy killed, photographed in the back of his truck in Queensland, Australia. "A brown snake or a tiger snake is in the back of the ute (truck), I think it has bitten me, it was in the car with me," Jimmy can be heard saying as the officer pulled up, in a video released by police Tuesday. "You can feel my heart, mate." The officer saw the dead snake lying in the back of the truck and called for help. When paramedics arrived, they determined Jimmy had not been bitten but was suffering from shock. "It was pretty terrifying, I've never been so happy to see red and blue lights," Jimmy said in the video. CNN

June 2020 was joint-second hottest on record as global temperatures soar Temperatures in Arctic Siberia were also exceptionally warm, experts said, and the number of fires in the Arctic Circle hit a record high. Arctic Siberia saw exceptionally high temperatures as global warmth matched last year’s record levels for June, experts have said. Average temperatures in Arctic Siberia were as high as 10°C above normal for June, according to the Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) from the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecast (ECMWF). A month of intense fires in the Arctic Circle has also been recorded by the Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service, surpassing the record levels of fires seen in the region in June 2019 Globally, last month was on a par with 2019 for the hottest June on record, with temperatures 0.53°C above the 1981 to 2010 average, and Europe saw its joint second warmest June on record. Temperatures in Arctic Siberia were exceptionally warm, C3S experts said. Temperatures in Arctic Siberia were exceptionally warm, C3S experts said © C3S/ECMWF Average temperatures were as high as 10°C above normal for the month in some places, while across all land in the region, temperatures averaged more than 5°C higher than usual and more than 1°C above 2018 and 2019 – the two previous warmest Junes. Regional variation saw western Siberia experience mainly below-average temperatures in June, despite having a long period of warmer than usual temperatures stretching back to December. In eastern Siberia, C3S, which uses satellite observations, estimated a maximum hourly Arctic temperature of 37°C on 20 June, in the area where a recording station reported a record temperature of 38°C on the same day – although that has not yet been confirmed. Director of the C3S at ECMWF, Carlo Buontempo, said: “Finding what caused these record temperatures is not a straightforward endeavour as there are many contributing factors interacting with each other. “Siberia and the Arctic Circle, in general, have large fluctuations from year to year and have experienced other relatively warm Junes before.” “What is worrisome is that the Arctic is warming faster than the rest of the world,” said Buontempo. “Western Siberia experiencing warmer-than-average temperatures so long during the winter and spring is unusual, and the exceptionally high temperatures in Arctic Siberia that have occurred now in June 2020 are equally a cause for concern.” The higher temperatures and dry soils have contributed to increased fire activity, mostly in the far north-east of Siberia. Scientists from the Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service, also implemented by ECMWF, said the number and intensity of wildfires in parts of north-eastern Russia, and to a lesser degree in Alaska and Canada’s Yukon Territory, had been increasing since the second week in June. The burning fires had resulted in the highest estimated emissions in 18 years of monitoring, with an estimated 59 million tonnes of carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere in June, more than last June’s total of 53 million tonnes. Experts at the Met Office said the high temperatures in northern Eurasia were due to a combination of climate change and extreme climate variability. A climate phenomenon known as the Indian Ocean dipole, with different sea surface temperatures in different parts of the ocean, saw record extremes in the autumn, helping create the conditions to push up temperatures in the region in winter and into spring. Climate change is also melting the sea ice, creating areas where heat from the Sun is absorbed by the dark ocean water rather than being reflected by ice and snow, amplifying the warmth in the Arctic. Science Focus

Tequila bats’ ancestral origins revealed by conservationists The bat lives in some of the hottest desert areas of Mexico and plays a vital role in pollinating the blue agave plant from which tequila is made. Scientists have shed light on the ancestral origins of the famous tequila bat. The critically endangered tequila bat is native to the Americas and lives in caves in some of the hottest desert areas of Mexico. The bat plays a vital role in pollinating the blue agave plant from which tequila is made. Bat populations are threatened by habitat loss, their roosts are often disturbed, and people fear them both due to myths and as potential disease carriers. Bats ‘pose no greater viral threat’ to humans than other species Vampire bats form ‘long-term reciprocal relationships’ Scientists have long known that some tequila bats migrate in Mexico’s spring months to the Sonoran Desert to give birth to their pups and pollinate a variety of plants. Other populations inhabit southern Mexico year-round, forming large breeding colonies in the winter months. As bats are highly mobile and mix constantly with other bat populations, it is hard for conservationists to know whether they are protecting the best sites for the tequila bats to roost. Scientists led by the University of Bristol analysed DNA from the species to see whether the bats inhabiting southern Mexico year-round have a similar ancestral origin to those that migrate to the Sonoran Desert. The tequila bat plays a vital role in pollinating the Blue Agave plant from which tequila is made © Angelica Menchaca/University of Bristol/PA Researchers from the university, the Centro de Investigacion Cientifica y de Educacion Superior de Ensenada and the Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico found the elusive creatures by travelling to remote caves in Mexico to collect DNA skin samples. Bat expert Dr Angelica Menchaca, who led the study, said: “Tequila bats are beautiful, especially after they arrive back from feeding as they return covered in pollen, completely yellow, a sign of how important they are to this ecosystem. “Once we located the bat colony, our aim was to collect DNA skin samples from the bat’s wing which heals quickly and doesn’t harm them. “We would wait until the bats went out to forage at around midnight and then enter the caves that were filled with thousands of baby bats, all packed together in nurseries, waiting for their mums to return. After analysing samples, the team was able to identify the bats’ mitochondrial DNA and use this to trace the maternal line of the different populations to understand the ancestral descent of the species. Explaining the findings, Dr Menchaca, from the University of Bristol, said: “Contrary to current practice, our study demonstrates that the species must be managed as two conservation units in Mexico.” That is, the species is made of two separate groups in need of conservation. A close-up of a tequila bat in the Sonoran Desert in Mexico © Angelica Menchaca/University of Bristol/PA She added: “We have shown that tequila bat populations that establish maternity colonies in the Sonoran Desert in northern Mexico show a distinct migratory behaviour, breed during the summer, have specific habitat requirements and belong to a maternal line distinct to their southern counterparts. “In the present context of an accelerated rate of habitat loss, increased fear of bats and decreased appreciation as ecosystem service providers, understanding how we can help support this important species survive these threats is even more relevant. “We are studying other differences related to their behaviour and morphology that will also help us understand how these bats adapt to diverse habitats.” Science Focus

Bloody mental swimming next to that fucker, look at all the scars on its body, bloody hell.

Dinosaur ancestors 'may have been tiny' Dinosaurs are often thought of as giant creatures, but new research adds to evidence they started out small. The evidence comes from a newly described fossil relative found on Madagascar that lived some 237 million years ago and stood just 10cm tall. The specimen may also help clarify the currently murky origins of pterosaurs, the winged reptiles that ruled the skies at the time of the dinosaurs. The work appears in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. "There's a general perception of dinosaurs as being giants," said co-author Christian Kammerer, from the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences. "But this new animal is very close to the divergence of dinosaurs and pterosaurs, and it's shockingly small." The specimen, named Kongonaphon kely, or "tiny bug slayer", was found in 1998 in Madagascar by a team of palaeontologists, led by John Flynn from the American Museum of Natural History in New York. Dinosaurs and pterosaurs both belong to the group Ornithodira. Their origins, however, are poorly known, as few specimens from near the root of this lineage have been found. Kongonaphon is not the first small fossil animal known near the root of the ornithodiran family tree but, previously, such specimens were considered isolated exceptions. In general, scientists thought body size remained similar among the first archosaurs - the larger reptile group that includes birds, crocodilians, non-avian dinosaurs, and pterosaurs - and the earliest ornithodirans. They are then thought to have increased to gigantic proportions in the dinosaur lineage. "Analysing changes in body size throughout archosaur evolution, we found compelling evidence that it decreased sharply early in the history of the dinosaur-pterosaur lineage," Dr Kammerer said. Wear on the teeth of Kongonaphon suggests it ate insects. A shift to this kind of diet, which is associated with small body size, may have helped early ornithodirans survive by occupying a niche different from their mostly meat-eating contemporaneous relatives. The work also suggests that fuzz over the skin, ranging from simple filaments to feathers, known on both the dinosaur and pterosaur sides of the ornithodiran tree, may have originated for regulating body temperature in this small-bodied ancestor. That's because heat retention in small bodies is difficult, and the mid-late Triassic Period, when the animal lived, was a time of climatic extremes. Researchers think there were sharp shifts in temperature between hot days and cold nights. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-53319635

Nah

The look on her face and then when she said "I've peed my pants"

I was not sure if this belongs in here as I was tossing up putting it into Science & Environment forum which the BBC link I got it from classed it as the latter or post this in the space forum as NASA was mentioned so feel free @Eco to move it into the appropriate forum if you must. Science & Environment Robotic scientists will 'speed up discovery' Scientists at the University of Liverpool have unveiled a robotic colleague that has been working non-stop in their lab throughout lockdown. The £100,000 programmable researcher learns from its results to refine its experiments. "It can work autonomously, so I can run experiments from home," explained Benjamin Burger, one of the developers. Such technology could make scientific discovery "a thousand times faster", scientists say. A new report by the Royal Society of Chemistry lays out a "post-Covid national research strategy", using robotics, artificial intelligence and advanced computing as part of a suite of technologies that "must be urgently embraced" to help socially distancing scientists continue their search for solutions to global challenges. Nasa humanoid starts work in UK lab Will coronavirus speed up the use of robots? Robo-chemist The robotic scientist is currently embarking on a series of tests to find a catalyst that could speed up the reaction that takes place inside solar cells. But it could, according to Prof Andy Cooper, the materials scientist who has put the robot to work in his lab, be used in the fight against Covid-19. "We've had a lot of interest [in the robot] from labs that are doing Covid research," he told BBC News. "Covid, climate change - there are lots of problems that really need international co-operation. So our vision is we might have robots like this all across the world connected by a centralised brain which can be anywhere. We haven't done that yet - this is the first example - but that's absolutely what we'd like to do." Socially distant science Today, in a world where scientists also need to limit their time in the lab and maintain social distance from each other, the robo-scientist has come into its own. "It doesn't get bored, doesn't get tired, works around the clock and doesn't need holidays," Dr Burger joked. On a more serious note, he said that the robot had transformed the speed at which he could carry out research. "It can easily go through thousands of samples," he said, "so it frees up my time to focus on innovation and new solutions." Like robotics designed for research in Space, machines like this could also take on riskier experiments - in harsher laboratory environments or using more toxic substances. That, according to Deirdre Black, head of research and innovation at the Royal Society of Chemistry, is why UK science needs to build new technologies into its infrastructure. "This is about human beings harnessing all of these digital technologies so that they can go faster - discover and innovate faster and explore bigger and more complex problems, like decarbonisation, preventing and treating disease, and making our air cleaner," she told BBC News. So does this mean that while many scientists have been in lockdown, the machines have come to take their jobs? "Absolutely not," said Dr Black. "Science will always need people". https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-53029854

I would drop the fucking camera 10 feet up with my hands shaking and knees knocking plus pee & shite myself to boot.

DOUBLE FUCK THAT

The Battle of the Bulge for the umpteenth time, this film and The Longest Day as Nudge would say 10/10 always.

A photographer stands all alone in the desert. Racing toward him is Bruce Springsteen in a convertible — and the deep darkness of a massive thunderstorm. The towering cumulonimbus cloud darkens the sky to a piercing black. A cloud of dust trails behind Springsteen’s car, which is lit by the little remaining light. "Soon it began to rain as flashes of lightning filled the valley,” photographer Eric Meola wrote in his new book “Fierce Beauty: Storms of the Great Plains.” “The hypnotic scene etched itself into our eyes and minds, and a few days later Bruce wrote the lyrics to a song called 'The Promised Land.’ ” The song goes: “There’s a dark cloud rising from the desert floor I packed my bags and I’m heading straight into the storm Gonna be a twister to blow everything down That ain’t got the faith to stand its ground.” One of the photos from that day eventually became the cover photo for Springsteen’s album “The Promise.” “It was great to be out in a convertible, racing the storm with the guy who wrote the song ‘Thunder Road,’ ” the photographer told CNN. “How do you top that for a desert road trip in America?” That was 1977. MORE PHOTOS and FULL REPORT

Mars 2020: NASA delays Perseverance rover launch again The Cape Canaveral liftoff is now timed for no earlier than 30 July. NASA has delayed the launch of its newest Mars rover yet again, to the end of July at the earliest, this time for a rocket issue. If the Perseverance rover is not on its way by mid-August, it will have to wait until 2022 when Earth and Mars are back in proper alignment, costing NASA close to $500 million for the delay alone. Managers are now targeting to launch the Mars 2020 mission no earlier than 30 July for liftoff from Florida’s Cape Canaveral, eating up half of the month-long launch window. The good news is that NASA is trying to eke out more time in this summer’s launch opportunity, now lasting until at least 15 August. The chance to fly to Mars comes up only every 26 months. It is NASA’s most ambitious Mars mission yet, totalling around $3 billion US dollars. Besides seeking signs of past microscopic Martian life, Perseverance will gather rocks and soil for eventual return to Earth. It will also deliver the Mars helicopter Ingenuity to the surface, where it aims to become the first drone to fly on another planet. Rocket maker United Launch Alliance needs extra time to deal with a liquid oxygen sensor line that showed questionable readings during a recent practice countdown, officials said Tuesday. Mars 2020 rover Perseverance © J. Krohn/AP Previous technical concerns, including crane trouble at the pad, bumped the launch from the original 17 July to 20 July and then 22 July. The United Arab Emirates and China, meanwhile, still are pressing ahead with launches of Mars spacecraft this month or next. Russia and the European Space Agency had to bow out, delaying their Mars rover until 2022 because of delayed spacecraft testing and travel limitations due to the coronavirus pandemic. Science Form

You've cracked inserting images

Fireworks cancelled this year? Watch the lunar eclipse 'Buck Moon' instead VIDEO (CNN) - If your family's Fourth of July fireworks plans are up in smoke because of the pandemic, watch the sky for a lunar eclipse instead. On July 4, just after 11 p.m. ET, the moon will begin its temporary new look. For exactly two hours and 45 minutes, the moon will pass through the feathered outer shadow cast from Earth, creating a partial penumbral lunar eclipse. Here are the best places based on the forecasted cloud cover to watch the penumbral lunar eclipse. A penumbral lunar eclipse occurs when the moon passes through the faint penumbra shadow cast by Earth. The moon misses the Earth's umbral shadow, which is best known for creating total and partial lunar eclipses. This event might not be as illustrious as a partial or total lunar eclipse where parts of the moon seem to disappear. Still, a noticeable darkening of the moon's surface will be visible without a telescope. The eclipse will begin at 11:07 p.m. ET and last through 1:52 a.m. ET, with peak darkening occurring just after midnight. It's also the Buck Moon During this time, it will also peak as the full moon -- nicknamed the Buck Moon -- just after midnight on Sunday morning. It will appear opposite the Sun (in Earth-based longitude) at 12:44 a.m. ET, according to NASA. "The Maine Farmer's Almanac first published 'Indian' names for the Full Moons in the 1930s," according to NASA. "According to this almanack, as the full Moon in July and the first full moon of summer, the Algonquin tribes of what is now the northeastern United States called this full Moon the Buck Moon." The July full moon also has been called Thunder Moon, Hay Moon, Mead Moon, Rose Moon, Guru Moon and Dharma Day. This event is just the beginning of an astronomical month. If the clouds get in the way of your lunar eclipse viewing, mark your calendar for these other July astronomical events. Saturn and Jupiter make their closest approach to Earth A great meeting of planets, known by astronomers as a conjunction, will occur every night this summer. In mid-July, Jupiter and Saturn will make their closest approach to Earth in 20 years. Expect a brighter than usual illumination of the planets as they take centre stage across the horizon. Jupiter takes the cake, though, as it's expected to outshine Saturn by 15 times. The largest planets of our solar system will follow each other westward across the night sky. They will be bundled brightly together overhead, creating their most dazzling display of the year. July will end with duelling meteor showers The capstone of the July astronomy calendar will be marked by two meteor showers peaking on the same night. At their peak, the Alpha Capricornids and the southern Delta Aquariids will provide roughly 20 to 25 visible meteors per hour. North American stargazers should look to the low, southern horizon for the best Delta Aquariid meteor viewing. The event will happen on the evening of July 28, lasting into July 29. The waning crescent moon and ideal summer temperatures will make for perfect viewing conditions for the dual July meteor showers. Now we just need the clouds to participate, too, in hopes of clear skies to watch streaking meteors. CNN

Tottenham face a battle to sign Milik as Juventus enter the race for Napoli striker The Poland international is interested in a move to the Serie A champions, but Goal understands the London club want him as an attacking option Tottenham are working on signing Arkadiusz Milik from Napoli but face tough competition from Juventus for his signature, sources close to the negotiations have confirmed. GOAL

The Grassmarket, Edinburgh, Then & Now. The merged image shows the past & present and the changes to the area from the horse-drawn carts to the modern car. The image has been taken from our "Know Where You Walk Edinburgh"

Archaeologists find ancient Aboriginal sites underwater, off the coast of Australia One of the sites was found in the Cape Bruguieres Channel, off northwestern Australia. (CNN)- Researchers have found the first confirmed underwater Aboriginal archaeological sites off the coast of Australia, and predict that there are many more to be discovered. Many settlements were built in areas that were on dry land at the end of the Ice Age, when sea levels were lower but were submerged as the sea rose, according to a study published Wednesday in the journal PLOS ONE. The Australian coast extended 100 miles farther out to sea than it does now, say a team of researchers led by archaeologist Jonathan Benjamin of Flinders University in Adelaide, so it is likely that many ancient sites are underwater. Scientists sent divers to explore likely sites and also used a number of techniques, such as aerial and underwater remote sensing. The study included maps of the sites. They found two sites off northwestern Australia. The first, in Cape Bruguieres Channel, contained artefacts that are at least 7,000 years old. At the second site, Flying Foam Passage, they found a single artefact that is 8,500 years old. Many of the artefacts had marine life growing on them, but the team were able to identify a number of worked stone tools, including two possible grinding stones. The findings show that these exploratory techniques are useful in detecting underwater archaeological sites, said the authors, who hope they can be used to systematically recover and investigate ancient artefacts. The team urged the Australian government to enact legislation that would protect and manage Aboriginal sites along the coastline. "Managing, investigating and understanding the archaeology of the Australian continental shelf in partnership with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander traditional owners and custodians is one of the last frontiers in Australian archaeology," Benjamin said. "Our results represent the first step in a journey of discovery to explore the potential of archaeology on the continental shelves which can fill a major gap in the human history of the continent," he added. In 2016, a genomic study revealed that Aboriginal Australians are the oldest known civilization on Earth, with ancestries stretching back roughly 75,000 years. The findings indicate Aboriginals diverged from Eurasians 57,000 years ago, following a single exodus from Africa around 75,000 years ago. The data may show Aboriginal Australians came to the continent as early as 31,000 years ago. Aboriginal Australians are Earth's oldest civilization: DNA study CNN

Toxic mercury pollution found in the ocean’s deepest point Two independent teams of scientists have found methylmercury in fish and crustaceans captured in the 11,000-metre-deep Mariana Trench. Human-derived mercury is a serious threat to the marine world, and now it seems to have infiltrated into the deepest, remotest parts of the ocean. While mercury is a naturally occurring element that can be introduced to the environment through volcanic eruptions and forest fires, human-derived mercury from industrial activity, incineration, mining and energy generation boosts the amount of airborne mercury, which eventually finds its way into the rivers and oceans. It then works its way through the food chain, accumulating in marine animals, with larger predators like swordfish and sharks containing particularly high quantities Mercury is toxic to humans and other animals and can lead to birth defects and neurological problems. The submersible Deep Sea Warrior, used by Ruoyu Sun’s team © Sun Qing/Getty Images Now, two independent teams of scientists have found a toxic form of mercury, methylmercury, present in fish and crustaceans captured in some of the deepest ocean trenches, including the 11,000-metre-deep Mariana Trench. “This is a surprise,” said researcher Dr Ruoyu Sun, from Tianjin University, China. “Previous research had concluded that methylmercury was mostly produced in the top few hundred metres of the ocean. “This would have limited mercury bioaccumulation by ensuring that fish which forage deeper than this would have had limited opportunity to ingest the methylmercury. With this work, we now believe that isn’t true.” Hadal snailfish Notoliparis kermadecensis at 7,000m in the Kermadec Trench off New Zealand as sampled by Joel Blum’s team © Alan Jamieson The researchers concluded that the particular form of mercury found within the creatures was not produced naturally in the deep-sea environment, and much of it is likely to have come from human activity. “We know that this mercury is deposited from the atmosphere to the surface ocean and is then transported to the deep ocean in the sinking carcasses of fish and marine mammals, as well as in small particles,” said Dr Joel Blum, from the University of Michigan. This research has demonstrated the far-reaching impact that human activity can have on even the remotest environments, and will lead to greater understanding about how mercury affects the marine world. Are all the world’s oceans at the same level? How long would a pebble take to reach the bottom of the Mariana Trench? https://www.sciencefocus.com/news/toxic-mercury-pollution-found-in-the-oceans-deepest-point/

Nah, he can smell things mentioned like nude or ladies feet over the net, tag or no tag in a thread.

And I bet you if @MUFC reads this about nudes he will say "Any pics?"

EPL Summer Transfer Window Goal.Com

The core of a gas planet seen for the first time Astronomers have found a previously unseen type of object circling a distant star. It could be the core of a gas world like Jupiter, offering an unprecedented glimpse inside one of these giant planets. Giant planets like Jupiter and Saturn have a solid planetary core beneath a thick envelope of hydrogen and helium gas. But no-one has previously been able to see what these solid cores are like. Now, a team of astronomers has discovered what they think are the rocky innards of a giant planet that's missing its thick atmosphere. Their findings have been published in the journal Nature. Lead author David Armstrong, from Warwick University, and colleagues had been running a programme to detect exposed planetary cores in data from the Tess space telescope. "This was one of the candidates we picked out as something to try to observe," he told BBC News. "We followed it up with an instrument called the Harps spectrograph in Chile, which we used to measure the masses of these candidates. This one came out as being exceptionally massive - much more than we expected really. That's when we started to look into what could have caused that." When the researchers first looked at the object, they thought it might be a binary star. "We kept taking data and it turned out to still be a planet - just an exceptionally massive one for its size," Dr Armstrong explained. Its radius is about three-and-a-half times larger than Earth's but the planet is around 39 times more massive. The object, called TOI 849 b, was found circling a star much like the Sun that's located 730 light-years away. The core orbits so close to its parent star that a year is a mere 18 hours and its surface temperature is around 1,527C. Researchers aren't sure whether the core lost its atmosphere in a collision or just never developed one. If it was once similar to Jupiter, there are several ways it could have lost its gaseous envelope. These could include tidal disruption, where the planet is ripped apart from orbiting too close to its star, or even a collision with another planet late in its formation. If it's a "failed" gas giant, this could have occurred if there was a gap in the disc of gas and dust that it emerged from, or if it formed late, after the disc ran out of material. "I think one of the biggest clues is that we found the planet inside the 'Hot Neptunian desert', which in this region of parameter space where we don't typically find planets," Dr Armstrong told BBC News. "That hints that it has gone through quite an unusual evolution. To me, that hints that it is more likely that it did lose its atmosphere... but we'll need some more observations to be sure." These further observations could help test ideas about how giant gas planets evolve. "It's a first, telling us that planets like this exist and can be found. We have the opportunity to look at the core of a planet in a way that we can't do in our own Solar System. "There are still big open questions about the nature of Jupiter's core, for example, so strange and unusual exoplanets like this give us a window into planet formation that we have no other way to explore." https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-53250819