(Press-News.org) New Curtin University research has revealed that a massive meteorite struck northwestern Scotland about 200 million years later than previously thought, in a discovery that not only rewrites Scotland’s geological history but alters our understanding of the evolution of non-marine life on Earth.
Previously believed to have occurred 1.2 billion years ago, the impact created the Stac Fada Member, a layer of rock that holds vital clues to Earth’s ancient past, including how meteorite strikes may have influenced the planet’s environment and life.
Lead author Professor Chris Kirkland, from Curtin’s Frontier Institute for Geoscience Solutions within the School of Earth and Planetary Sciences, said the research team used tiny zircon crystals as geological ‘time capsules’ to date the impact to 990 million years ago.
“These microscopic crystals recorded the exact moment of impact, with some even transforming into an incredibly rare mineral called reidite, which only forms under extreme pressures,” Professor Kirkland said.
“This provided undeniable proof that a meteorite strike caused the Stac Fada deposit.
“When a meteorite hits, it partially resets the atomic clocks inside the zircon crystals and these ‘broken timepieces’ are often unable to be dated but we developed a model to reconstruct when the disturbance occurred, confirming the impact at 990 million years ago.”
Professor Kirkland said this impact event occurred at a similar time to the emergence of some of the earliest freshwater eukaryotes, which are the ancient ancestors of plants, animals and fungi.
“The revised dating suggests these life forms in Scotland appeared at a similar time to a meteorite impact,” Professor Kirkland said.
“This raises fascinating questions about whether large impacts may have influenced environmental conditions in ways that affected early ecosystems.
“While the impact crater itself has yet to be found, this study has collected further clues that could finally reveal its location.
“Understanding when meteorite impacts occurred helps us explore their potential influence on Earth’s environment and the expansion of life beyond the oceans.”
The research was done in collaboration with NASA Johnson Space Center, University of St. Andrews, University of Portsmouth, and Carl Zeiss Microscopy Ltd.
The paper, ‘A one-billion-year-1 old Scottish meteorite impact,’ has been published in Geology and is available online here: https://doi.org/10.1130/G53121.1
END
Billion-year-old impact in Scotland sparks questions about life on land
n/a
2025-04-28
ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:
High blood sugar in adolescence tripled the risk of premature heart damage affecting females worse than males
2025-04-28
Persistently high blood sugar and insulin resistance significantly increased the risk of worsening functional and structural heart damage during growth from adolescence to young adulthood, a new study shows. The study was conducted in collaboration between the Baylor College of Medicine in the US, the University of Bern in Switzerland, Murdoch Children’s Research Institute in Australia, the Universities of Bristol and Exeter in the UK, and the University of Eastern Finland. The results were published in the highly ...
A neuro-quantum leap in finding optimal solutions
2025-04-28
By Shawn Ballard
It’s easy to solve a 3x3 Rubik’s cube, says Shantanu Chakrabartty, the Clifford W. Murphy Professor and vice dean for research and graduate education in the McKelvey School of Engineering at Washington University in St. Louis. Just learn and memorize the steps then execute them to arrive at the solution. Computers are already good at this kind of procedural problem solving. Now, Chakrabartty and his collaborators have developed a tool that can go beyond procedure to discover new solutions to complex optimization problems in logistics to drug ...
Brain decoder controls spinal cord stimulation
2025-04-28
By Beth Miller
When a person sustains an injury to the spinal cord, the normal communication between the brain and the spinal circuits below the injury are interrupted, resulting in paralysis. Because the brain is functioning normally, as is the spinal cord below the injury, researchers have been working to re-establish the communication to allow for rehabilitation and potentially restore movement.
Ismael Seáñez, assistant professor of biomedical engineering in the McKelvey School of Engineering at Washington University in St. Louis and of neurosurgery at WashU Medicine, and members of his ...
UCLA receives $25 million from Shirley and Walter Wang to establish new integrative digestive health center
2025-04-28
UCLA Health has received a $25 million commitment from Shirley and Walter Wang to establish a center that will offer comprehensive care, support and guidance for patients and families living with gastrointestinal disorders.
The UCLA Walter and Shirley Wang Center for Integrative Digestive Health, named in recognition of the longtime donors, will be one of the few holistic programs of its kind in the nation, providing whole-person care for patients to help them live healthier.
“I am grateful to Shirley and Walter Wang for their profound generosity and vision,” said Johnese Spisso, president of UCLA Health ...
Sexual trauma during military service linked to higher risk of suicide and overdose death later in life
2025-04-28
Embargoed for release until 5:00 p.m. ET on Monday 28 April 2025
Follow @Annalsofim on X, Facebook, Instagram, threads, and Linkedin
Below please find summaries of new articles that will be published in the next issue of Annals of Internal Medicine. The summaries are not intended to substitute for the full articles as a source of information. This information is under strict embargo and by taking it into possession, media representatives are committing to the terms of the embargo not only on their own ...
New non-invasive brain stimulation technique shows significant reduction in depression, anxiety and PTSD symptoms
2025-04-28
AUSTIN, Texas — Patients suffering from depression, anxiety and trauma-related disorders experienced significant relief from their symptoms after a new treatment that uses sound waves to modulate deep brain activity, according to new research from Dell Medical School at The University of Texas at Austin. The study, published this month in Molecular Psychiatry, demonstrates that low-intensity focused ultrasound technology can safely and effectively target the amygdala — a brain region known to be hyperactive in ...
Toward defining problematic media usage patterns in adolescents
2025-04-28
About The Article: This Viewpoint proposes an analogous taxonomy for digital media use that identifies patterns of use, irrespective of content, that could be problematic but, at a minimum, should be flagged as warranting further evaluation and potential remediation.
Corresponding Author: To contact the corresponding author, Dimitri A. Christakis, MD, MPH, email dimitri.christakis@seattlechildrens.org.
To access the embargoed study: Visit our For The Media website at this link https://media.jamanetwork.com/
(doi:10.1001/jama.2025.6113)
Editor’s Note: Please see the article for additional information, ...
New insight into how the brain switches gears could help Parkinson’s patients
2025-04-28
New USC research offers an unseen insight into how the brain shifts gears. The researchers discovered that our innate ability to make quick changes in motor function are the result of a unique brain mechanism.
In the high-stakes world of the NBA, we watch in awe as our favorite player seamlessly switches moves in the blink of an eye. A perfect layup is suddenly defended. The shooter changes course mid-air, passing to an open teammate for a corner three.
Humans have a remarkable ability to rapidly switch between different motor actions when life throws us a curveball. You reach to pull open a door but suddenly see you must push to exit. In traffic, you must ...
Dopamine signals when a fear can be forgotten
2025-04-28
Dangers come but dangers also go and when they do, the brain has an “all-clear” signal that teaches it to extinguish its fear. A new study in mice by MIT neuroscientists shows that the signal is the release of dopamine along a specific interregional brain circuit. The research therefore pinpoints a potentially critical mechanism of mental health, restoring calm when it works, but prolonging anxiety or even post-traumatic stress disorder when it doesn’t.
“Dopamine is essential to initiate fear extinction,” said Michele Pignatelli di Spinazzola, co-author ...
Anatomy of a “zombie” volcano: investigating the cause of unrest inside Uturuncu
2025-04-28
Images available via the link in the notes section
Scientists from China, the UK and the USA have collaborated to analyse the inner workings of Bolivia’s “zombie” volcano, Uturuncu. By combining seismology, physics models and analysis of rock composition, researchers identify the causes of Uturuncu’s unrest, alleviating fears of an imminent eruption. The findings have been published today (28 April) in the journal PNAS.
Deep in the Central Andes lies Uturuncu, Bolivia’s “zombie” ...
LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:
Breathable yet protective: Next-gen medical textiles with micro/nano networks
Frequency-engineered MXene supercapacitors enable efficient pulse charging in TENG–SC hybrid systems
Developed an AI-based classification system for facial pigmented lesions
Achieving 20% efficiency in halogen-free organic solar cells via isomeric additive-mediated sequential processing
New book Terraglossia reclaims language, Country and culture
The most effective diabetes drugs don't reach enough patients yet
Breast cancer risk in younger women may be influenced by hormone therapy
Strategies for staying smoke-free after rehab
Commentary questions the potential benefit of levothyroxine treatment of mild hypothyroidism during pregnancy
Study projects over 14 million preventable deaths by 2030 if USAID defunding continues
New study reveals 33% gap in transplant access for UK’s poorest children
Dysregulated epigenetic memory in early embryos offers new clues to the inheritance of polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS)
IVF and IUI pregnancy rates remain stable across Europe, despite an increasing uptake of single embryo transfer
It takes a village: Chimpanzee babies do better when their moms have social connections
From lab to market: how renewable polymers could transform medicine
Striking increase in obesity observed among youth between 2011 and 2023
No evidence that medications trigger microscopic colitis in older adults
NYUAD researchers find link between brain growth and mental health disorders
Aging-related inflammation is not universal across human populations, new study finds
University of Oregon to create national children’s mental health center with $11 million federal grant
Rare achievement: UTA undergrad publishes research
Fact or fiction? The ADHD info dilemma
Genetic ancestry linked to risk of severe dengue
Genomes reveal the Norwegian lemming as one of the youngest mammal species
Early birds get the burn: Monash study finds early bedtimes associated with more physical activity
Groundbreaking analysis provides day-by-day insight into prehistoric plankton’s capacity for change
Southern Ocean saltier, hotter and losing ice fast as decades-long trend unexpectedly reverses
Human fishing reshaped Caribbean reef food webs, 7000-year old exposed fossilized reefs reveal
Killer whales, kind gestures: Orcas offer food to humans in the wild
Hurricane ecology research reveals critical vulnerabilities of coastal ecosystems
[Press-News.org] Billion-year-old impact in Scotland sparks questions about life on landn/a