#LostBones #FossilFriday An in-person, eye-to-orbit visit is always best! This is the Scheirel bison skeleton, currently on display at the Paynesville Area Historical Society. It was reconstructed by William Scheirel after a dredging operation on his property in October 1975.

Originally displayed at Zapf's Leather Shop in Paynesville, the skeleton was donated to the historical society in the mid-1990s.

https://paynesvillehistorical.org

Sometimes, when I interview bacteria or animals, I ask myself if it's not too childish. But hey, the highly respected @cnrs lets #blobs talk!
In case you need some #goodNews: Blobs are sure to take over the world (well, my hypothesis). Thanks to the CNRS and a #citizenScience project, they are already living in countless children's bedrooms. Listen to a blob: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dwcx6yCdDE8

A star with a weird color - Nova Lupi 2025 (V462 Lupi)

1st photo is not annotated. Can you find the nova?

2nd photo is annotated.

3rd photo was deliberately mis-focused so that stars were larger disks instead of small points. This makes it easier to see the color.

Note that there are plenty of orange stars and plenty of blue stars...but the nova has a unique color. To my eye it's a pale purple.

Why does the nova have a weird color?

4th image was taken from https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=1771205990440705&set=pcb.10056320127790102 it's a spectrum of the nova. Most stars have a blackbody radiation distribution, but novae (that's the Latin form, plural) have strong emission lines at discrete colors. That can make a weird color compared to most stars.

Image taken with a camera on a fixed tripod.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/V462_Lupi

Want to photograph another nova? (Southern hemisphere only.)

V572 Velorum might be naked eye visible if you have good eyes, are in a dark sky...although the first quarter moon may thwart that.

It should be easy in binoculars or a camera on a fixed tripod. A newer cellphone camera might also capture it.

The attached graphic shows the location of the nova as seen from Wellington as evening twilight ends...fairly high in the southwest.

https://earthsky.org/tonight/nova-or-new-star-visible-in-vela/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/V572_Velorum

Every observation counts, however small, to build an accurate picture of the state of our world. #Canada #citizenScience #nature
https://secure.natureconservancy.ca/site/SPageNavigator/BioBlitz_2025/signup?s_locale=en_CA

Humans are natural problem solvers, which is why so many people love gaming. Jeff Yoshimi, author of "Gaming Cancer," argues that building and playing video games could help advance scientific discovery — and that it's already happening. "An EteRNA Eterna challenge (the “OpenVaccine Challenge”) from a few years ago asked game players to help design RNA molecules for Covid vaccines that do not require ultra-cold storage, allowing for easier storage and transport, which is especially crucial in developing parts of the world< he writes for MIT Press Reader. "Although attribution is tricky, the challenge was a success; vaccines today are more stable at room temperature than they were before."

https://flip.it/m6dNPp

#Science #VideoGames #Technology #Tech #CitizenScience #Books @bookstodon

This week’s CMOR photo is from Emery County, Utah.

“This year there has been very little rain compared to previous years. Range conditions are poor and very little to no spring growth has occurred.”

Submit your photos: https://go.unl.edu/cmor_drought

Cool news: https://www.space.com/astronomy/exoplanets/nasa-exoplanet-hunting-spacecraft-and-citizen-scientists-discover-a-cool-new-alien-world

Link to paper: https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/1538-3881/add88b