Amid continued uncertainty — and equal amounts of growing interest — surrounding the use of

Scientists are learning new things all the time about the early days of life on Earth, and a new discovery could change our understanding of evolution in our oceans. Algae are among the most vital life forms of the planet today – and new research into algae’s ancient ancestors makes for intriguing reading. Palaeontologist Tom Harvey from the University of Leicester believes he’s found fossilised phytoplankton which was key to the makeup of the oceans 500 million years ago. A new study authored by Harvey and published in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B focuses on samples he found in rock from Newfoundland, Canada, While there’s more known about the early animals that dominated the food chains at that time, the smaller organisms around 500 million years ago are still relatively unstudied. Harvey’s research focuses on the microscopic creatures – and it all came about by chance. While he was actually looking for animal skin in rocks using a microscope, he instead stumbled upon collections of geometric clusters, which he later concluded were ancient forerunners to algae. “The cells were quite big, they formed quite a large colony that has this amazing geometry,” he said. “It was just too mysterious. I didn’t even want to hazard a guess.” According to Harvey’s findings, it’s evidence that the animals at that time filtered seawater for phytoplankton – which would mark the earliest evidence of them doing so, which is vital to the makeup of ocean ecosystems. Like today’s life forms, it’s thought that chemical signals sent by nearby animals caused the ancient samples to divide and grow. It also fills a space in the records of phytoplankton and helps to paint a well-rounded picture of evolution over time, given that the phytoplankton we see today only traces back around 200 million years ago. Sign up for our free Indy100 weekly newsletter How to join the indy100's free WhatsApp channel Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings

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REDWOOD CITY, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 30, 2023--

Meta chief Mark Zuckerberg says he is “ready today” but “not holding his breath” to take on Tesla boss and Twitter owner Elon Musk in a proposed cage fight. In a post on Sunday in Meta’s recently launched social media platform Threads, Mr Zuckerberg said he had proposed 26 August for the bout with the Tesla titan. “I’m ready today. I suggested Aug 26 when he first challenged, but he hasn’t confirmed. Not holding my breath,” the Meta chief said in response to Mr Musk’s post on Twitter, which has been rebranded as X. Earlier on Sunday, the Tesla and SpaceX boss said he was preparing for the fight, “lifting weights throughout the day”. Mr Musk said the fight would be “live-streamed on X” with proceeds from the match up going to charity for veterans. “Zuck v Musk fight will be live-streamed on X....All proceeds will go to charity for veterans,” Mr Musk tweeted on Sunday. The Meta chief quipped that “a more reliable platform” could be used “that can actually raise money for charity” – likely hinting that Facebook and Instagram have a built-in fundraising feature. The cage match proposal started when Mr Musk, responding to a tweet about Twitter rival Threads, took a dig about the world becoming “exclusively under Zuck’s thumb with no other options” to which a Twitter user jokingly warned the Tesla chief of his rival’s jiu jitsu training. “I’m up for a cage match if he is lol,” Mr Musk responded to the user. Replying to another user about the point of the fight with his rival, the Tesla titan said “It’s a civilised form of war”. In the following days, there were several back-and-forths on social media between the two tech rivals, which ended in them agreeing to face each other off in a cage match. In the lead-up to the possible clash, Mr Zuckerberg said he had built an octagon in the garden outside his house, which seems to have not gone well with his wife Priscilla Chan. “I have been working on that grass for two years,” Ms Chan said, according to a screenshot of their conversation shared by the Meta chief. Read More Netflix leaves fans distraught as it announces end of beloved series Jake Paul: Biggest moments from boxer and YouTube star’s Netflix documentary Jake Paul vs Nate Diaz prize money: How much did fighters earn for boxing match? Mark Zuckerberg reveals his 4,000 calorie diet and large McDonald’s order Meta’s Twitter rival Threads sees ‘steep drop in daily users by 80 per cent’ Mark Zuckerberg has lost $40 billion on the Metaverse – and plans to lose more

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