Tag: Science

450-pound sunfish discovered on N.C. beach; scientists overjoyed

A massive alien-like sunfish was discovered Wednesday on a North Carolina beach and was so heavy that scientists required a horse scale to obtain its weight.

A massive alien-like sunfish was found Wednesday on a North Carolina beach and the carcass was so heavy that scientists required a horse scale to obtain its weight.

The sharptail mola, similar in appearance to the more common Mola mola (ocean sunfish), weighed 450 pounds and is being kept at the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences.

Lily Hughes, Curator of Ichthyology at the museum, tweeted about the rare discovery Saturday.

“Fishmas came early to the Natural Sciences Ichthyology Unit this year!” Hughes boasted. “We are adding this beautiful 450 pound sharptail mola to our collection!”

 

The fish washed ashore at North Topsail Beach and, Hughes noted, “It has been pure chaos getting it to Raleigh, but we’re so glad it’s here!”

RELATED: ‘Stunned’ researchers rescue 4,000-pound sunfish from net

Hughes thanked the citizens of North Topsail Beach for their help in collecting the specimen, and the College of Veterinary Medicine at North Carolina State University for allowing the use of its horse scale.

Sharptail mola (Masturus lanceolatus), also referred to as sharptail sunfish, are found globally in tropical and temperate waters. But they’re rarely encountered and little is known about their biology or life history.

The oddly shaped fish can weigh more than 4,000 pounds.

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Scientists stunned as giant shark-like blob appears beneath boat

The appearance of a giant shark-shaped blob on a research vessel’s sonar display recently had scientists pondering the existence of the long-extinct Megalodon.

The appearance of an enormous shark-shaped blob on a research vessel’s sonar display recently had scientists pondering the existence of the long-extinct Megalodon.

“Does the Meg exist?” The Atlantic Shark Institute, based in Rhode Island, asked this week on Facebook.

Based on the size of the blob, which resembled and moved like a shark, the creature would have measured 50 feet and weighed 40 tons.

The excitement lasted several minutes and the scientists were hopeful that one of the fishing rods would signal a bite.

ALSO: Breaching humpback whale makes large boat ‘disappear’; video

“However, much to our disappointment, the shape started to transition into a large school of Atlantic mackerel that hung around the boat for about 15 minutes,” The Atlantic Shark Institute explained.

“So close, but so far! The Megalodon (Otodus megalodon), disappeared more than 3 million years ago and will likely stay that way, but, for a few minutes, we thought he had returned!”

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Mind-blowing facts about NASA’s new James Webb Space Telescope images

Talk about a stellar view.

Today, NASA unveiled images from the James Webb Space Telescope. The infrared images show the deepest and sharpest view of the distant universe to date. These glimpses into space represent 120 hours of observation and come after the telescope began capturing data a few weeks ago. Now available to the public, the Webb images invite people to explore distant galaxies and learn more about this scientific achievement.

“It’s an emotional moment when you see nature suddenly releasing some of its secrets,” Thomas Zurbuchen, associate administrator for NASA’s Science Mission Directorate, said at a news conference on Wednesday. “With this telescope, it’s really hard not to break records.”

Thousands of small galaxies appear across this view. Their colors vary. Some are shades of orange, while others are white. Most appear as fuzzy ovals, but a few have distinct spiral arms. In front of the galaxies are several foreground stars. Most appear blue, and the bright stars have diffraction spikes, forming an eight-pointed star shape. There are also many thin, long, orange arcs that curve around the center of the image.
IMAGE: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI

Meet Webb’s First Deep Field, the first James Webb Space Telescope image. The incredibly detailed capture shows galaxy cluster SMACS 0723. To generate this view, Webb’s Near-Infrared Camera (NIRCam) composited several images at various wavelengths. This technology allows the world to see SMACS 0723 as it appeared 4.6 billion years ago.

“Webb can see backwards in time just after the big bang by looking for galaxies that are so far away, the light has taken many billions of years to get from those galaxies to ourselves,” Jonathan Gardner, NASA’s Webb deputy senior project scientist, said during the recent news conference.

Curious to see just how much NASA’s technology has improved? Compare the James Webb Space Telescope images to those captured by the Hubble Space Telescope. Twitter user @Johnnyc1423 created a helpful slider tool that compares images from the two telescopes. Currently, the tool features images of SMACS 0723, Southern Ring Nebula, Stephan’s Quintet, and Carina Nebula.

The new images represent a significant moment in scientific discovery and come after many years of collaboration. As NASA explains, “Thousands of scientists, engineers, and technicians from 14 countries, 29 U.S. states, and Washington, D.C. contributed to build, test, and integrate Webb.”

See a gallery of the images here, and stay updated as NASA releases further information.