Science This Week | Phosphorus found on Saturn’s moon, tougher to forecast cyclones in the Arabian Sea and more

Check out The Hindu’s science wrap featuring top 7 stories on new discoveries, findings, and studies in the scientific world from this week

From finding the last piece of the puzzle to a mathematical problem that has been unsolved for over half a century to finding geological similar history between India, Africa and Australia, read about this week’s latest discoveries from the field of science.

High concentrations of phosphorus, an essential element for all biological processes on Earth, have been detected in ice crystals spewed from the interior ocean of Saturn's moon Enceladus, adding to its potential to harbour life, researchers said. Scientists had previously confirmed that Enceladus' ice grains contain a rich assortment of minerals and complex organic compounds, including the ingredients for amino acids, associated with life as scientists know it. But phosphorus, the least abundant of six chemical elements considered necessary to all living things - the others are carbon, oxygen, hydrogen, nitrogen and sulphur - was still missing from the equation until now.

A new paper purports to contain the final piece of a jigsaw puzzle that mathematicians have been picking away at for more than half a century: the invariant subspace problem. The invariant subspace problem is a little complicated: it is about spaces with an infinite number of dimensions, and it asks whether every linear operator (the equivalent of a matrix) in those spaces must have an invariant subspace. The solution proposed by Enflo is still under review and if proven correct will be big achievement.

Remains of a species of herbivorous dinosaur previously unknown in the southern hemisphere have been discovered in Chile, challenging long-held beliefs about the range of duck-billed dinosaurs. Measuring up to four meters (13 feet) in length and weighing a ton, Gonkoken nanoi lived 72 million years ago in the extreme south of what is now Chilean Patagonia. The discovery demonstrated that Chilean Patagonia served as a refuge for very ancient species of hadrosaurs, a type of duck-billed dinosaur common in North America, Asia and Europe during the Cretaceous period, from 145 to 66 million years ago.

India hosts remarkably well-preserved volcanic and sedimentary rocks as old as 3.5 billion years, and has similar geologic history to parts of South Africa and Australia, a study has found. Researchers examined volcanic and sedimentary rocks from the Daitari greenstone belt in the Singhbhum Craton in east India and established key geological timelines that illustrate the tectonic evolution. Studies of ancient greenstones are important not only to understand the diverse volcanic processes but well-preserved greenstones preserve minor sedimentary rocks that formed under sub-marine settings.

While the India Meteorological Department (IMD) has over the years been largely accurate in forecasting the direction and intensity of cyclones into the country, data suggest that it takes more time for the agency to accurately forecast the trajectory of storms that originate in the Arabian Sea, than those in the Bay of Bengal. Historically, most cyclones around India tend to originate in the Bay of Bengal but global warming, as scientists have been pointing out for a while now, is causing the Arabian Sea to be heating up more than average and whetting greater — and increasingly stronger — cyclones like Biparjoy, which barrelled into Gujarat late Thursday.

Over a month ago, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared Mpox, a global health emergency over. Even though cumulative cases across the world continue to decline, there has been an increase in reported cases from some countries, particularly in Southeast Asia and the Western Pacific Region. In June 2023, China reported four cases of Mpox —two from Beijing and two from Guangzhou — raising concerns about the spread of the disease in the country. Two cases were also reported from Sri Lanka, in patients who had a travel history to Dubai. Earlier this year, Mpox was also detected in Thailand, Taiwan, Pakistan and Japan. Incidentally, several cases have a travel history to the Middle East, however, reports from Middle East do not indicate an increase in the number of cases.