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Gold and other precious metals leak from Earth's core and reach the surface

Gold and other precious metals leak from Earth's core and reach the surface

Yahoo2 days ago

Editor's note: A version of this story appeared in CNN's Wonder Theory science newsletter. To get it in your inbox, sign up for free here.
For a long time, there has been a missing puzzle piece in Jerusalem's history. Though ancient texts offered some clues, an archaeological record of the city during the Early Hellenistic Period, from 332 to 141 BC, was largely absent — until now.
Excavators at the Jerusalem Walls National Park unearthed two child-size gold rings set with shiny red gemstones from a dig site within less than a year.
Both pieces of jewelry were in such good condition that at first glance, archaeologists thought they were modern.
Now, they believe the 2,300-year-old rings were intentionally buried by young women as part of a coming-of-age ritual before marriage.
Together, the rings and other objects from the excavations are painting a more detailed portrait of a period of Greek influence in Jerusalem's history.
Speaking of precious caches, most of Earth's gold lies trapped in the planet's seething, molten core. But a new analysis of volcanic rocks in Hawaii suggests gold and other precious metals such as platinum are escaping into the mantle.
Within the rock samples, researchers saw traces of a silver-gray metal about as rare as gold that was likely more abundant in Earth's early building materials when the core developed about 4.5 billion years ago.
As volcanic islands form, gold and other metals eventually make their way to the surface — and more will probably emerge in Earth's crust if the metallic core is still leaking, researchers say.
SpaceX's ninth test flight of Starship, the most powerful rocket ever built, lifted off Tuesday reusing a Super Heavy booster for the first time.
The spacecraft made it farther than it had during the past two tests but failed to achieve key objectives, including deploying dummy satellites that went along for the ride and reigniting its engines in space.
Mission controllers lost contact with Starship, and the spacecraft spun out of control on reentry to Earth.
Sharks usually prefer dining alone. But observers captured footage of at least 12 sharks from two distinct species sharing a feast for more than eight hours off the coast of Hawaii's Big Island.
Astronomers have detected an unusual object known as ASKAP J1832-0911 emitting flashes of radio waves every 44 minutes — and it may be a new entry in a class of recently discovered mysterious objects called long-period transients.
The object is releasing not only radio pulses but also powerful X-rays that NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory happened to observe. The high-energy X-rays are what sets ASKAP J1832-0911 apart from other cosmic phenomena.
'This object is unlike anything we have seen before,' said Dr. Andy Wang, an associate lecturer at the Curtin Institute of Radio Astronomy in Australia.
Excavations in Luxor have uncovered three tombs in an ancient Egyptian burial complex.
Located in a cemetery called Dra' Abu el-Naga, which was reserved for prominent nonroyals, the burial chambers date to the New Kingdom, which lasted from around 1539 to 1077 BC.
Painted figures, hieroglyphs and inscriptions found inside the tombs helped researchers determine the names and occupations of those laid to rest there.
Catch up on the latest stories:
— Sixteen states have filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration, asking a federal judge to end new policies by the National Science Foundation. Tasked with advancing scientific discoveries, the agency is halting millions of dollars' worth of research across the country.
— Researchers say they now know what the massive megalodon really ate to meet its 100,000-calorie daily requirement.
— China's Tianwen-2 mission is on a quest to land on an asteroid that might be a chunk of the moon and then fly by an 'active asteroid' trailing dusty, comet-like tails.
— A roughly 43,000-year-old fingerprint, which appears to mark where a nose should be on a rock resembling a face, adds to evidence that ancient human ancestors were capable of creating art. Forensic police helped unravel the mystery of who made the print.
Like what you've read? Oh, but there's more. Sign up here to receive in your inbox the next edition of Wonder Theory, brought to you by CNN Space and Science writers Ashley Strickland, Katie Hunt and Jackie Wattles. They find wonder in planets beyond our solar system and discoveries from the ancient world.

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Time machine: How carbon dating brings the past back to life
Time machine: How carbon dating brings the past back to life

Yahoo

time2 hours ago

  • Yahoo

Time machine: How carbon dating brings the past back to life

From unmasking art forgery to uncovering the secrets of the Notre-Dame cathedral, an imposing machine outside Paris can turn back the clock to reveal the truth. It uses a technique called carbon dating, which has "revolutionised archaeology", winning its discoverer a Nobel Prize in 1960, French scientist Lucile Beck said. She spoke to AFP in front of the huge particle accelerator, which takes up an entire room in the carbon dating lab of France's Atomic Energy Commission in Saclay, outside the capital. Beck described the "surprise and disbelief" among prehistorians in the 1990s when the machine revealed that cave art in the Chauvet Cave in France's southeast was 36,000 years old. The laboratory uses carbon dating, also called carbon-14, to figure out the timeline of more than 3,000 samples a year. - So how does it work? - First, each sample is examined for any trace of contamination. "Typically, they are fibres from a jumper" of the archaeologist who first handled the object, Beck said. The sample is then cleaned in an acid bath and heated to 800 degrees Celsius (1,472 Fahrenheit) to recover its carbon dioxide. This gas is then reduced to graphite and inserted into tiny capsules. Next, these capsules are put into the particle accelerator, which separates their carbon isotopes. Isotopes are variants of the same chemical element which have different numbers of neutrons. Some isotopes are stable, such as carbon-12. Others -- such as carbon-14 -- are radioactive and decay over time. Carbon-14 is constantly being created in Earth's upper atmosphere as cosmic rays and solar radiation bombard the chemical nitrogen. In the atmosphere, this creates carbon dioxide, which is absorbed by plants during photosynthesis. Then animals such as ourselves get in on the act by eating those plants. So all living organisms contain carbon-14, and when they die, it starts decaying. Only half of it remains after 5,730 years. After 50,000 years, nothing is left -- making this the limit on how far back carbon dating can probe. By comparing the number of carbon-12 and carbon-14 particles separated by the particle accelerator, scientists can get an estimate of how old something is. Cosmic radiation is not constant, nor is the intensity of the magnetic field around Earth protecting us from it, Beck said. That means scientists have to make estimations based on calculations using samples whose ages are definitively known. This all makes it possible to spot a forged painting, for example, by demonstrating that the linen used in the canvas was harvested well after when the purported painter died. The technique can also establish the changes in our planet's climate over the millennia by analysing the skeletons of plankton found at the bottom of the ocean. - Notre-Dame revealed - Carbon dating can be used on bones, wood and more, but the French lab has developed new methods allowing them to date materials that do not directly derive from living organisms. For example, they can date the carbon that was trapped in iron from when its ore was first heated by charcoal. After Paris's famous Notre-Dame cathedral almost burned to the ground in 2019, this method revealed that its big iron staples dated back to when it was first built -- and not to a later restoration, as had been thought. The technique can also analyse the pigment lead white, which has been painted on buildings and used in artworks across the world since the fourth century BC. To make this pigment, "lead was corroded with vinegar and horse poo, which produces carbon dioxide through fermentation," Beck explained. She said she always tells archaeologists: "don't clean traces of corrosion, they also tell about the past!" Another trick made it possible to date the tombs of a medieval abbey in which only small lead bottles had been found. As the bodies in the tombs decomposed, they released carbon dioxide, corroding the bottles and giving scientists the clue they needed. "This corrosion was ultimately the only remaining evidence of the spirit of the monks," Beck mused. ber/dl/jhb

Saudi Arabia's First Ever Tokenized Real Estate Transaction Set for Launch by droppRWA and RAFAL Real Estate
Saudi Arabia's First Ever Tokenized Real Estate Transaction Set for Launch by droppRWA and RAFAL Real Estate

Entrepreneur

time2 hours ago

  • Entrepreneur

Saudi Arabia's First Ever Tokenized Real Estate Transaction Set for Launch by droppRWA and RAFAL Real Estate

The transaction is a strategic inflection point as the RAFAL pilot will serve as a national feasibility benchmark for the future of tokenized property markets both in and beyond Saudi Arabia. You're reading Entrepreneur Middle East, an international franchise of Entrepreneur Media. droppRWA, a sister company of Web3 technology provider DroppGroup,has partnered with Saudi Arabia's real estate developer RAFAL Real Estate Co, to execute the kingdom's first-ever real world asset (RWA) tokenization transaction. The transaction is a strategic inflection point as the RAFAL pilot will serve as a national feasibility benchmark for the future of tokenized property markets both in and beyond Saudi Arabia. The collaboration aims to introduce fractional ownership of high-value real estate assets, enabling everyday Saudi citizens to invest with amounts starting as low as single-digit Riyals. This democratized access model aligns directly with Vision 2030's goals of financial inclusion, digital transformation and citizen empowerment. This initiative is also designed to attract institutional-grade foreign capital through compliant digital technology rails. droppRWA will conduct a full feasibility study for property tokenization across RAFAL's portfolio. A fully regulated proof-of-concept will be developed and executed, with RAFAL supplying live real estate assets for controlled transaction testing. Faisal Al Monai, a droppRWA co-founder, "This transaction marks a paradigm shift. Around the world, we are witnessing the greatest digital transformation of the 21st century - the transformation of capital itself. The mission of this partnership positions Saudi Arabia at the forefront of programmable economies, with real-world impact for every citizen - starting at just 1 Riyal,you can "own a piece of Vision 2030." "And for institutional and global capital, this will be a fully regulated pilot that provides a secure on-ramp for institutional-grade Foreign Direct Investments (FDI) into Saudi Arabia. It merges stablecoin liquidity with sovereign-grade infrastructure, bringing real-world assets onto the blockchain with trust, speed and scale." Source: droppRWA Elias Abousamra, CEO, RAFAL Real Estate, "At RAFAL, we have always believed that real estate should be both aspirational and accessible. This partnership with droppRWA is not just about technology - it's about democratizing real estate investment and creating a global platform for foreign direct investment into the promising Saudi market. For the first time, a young Saudi can own a piece of a premium development with just a few Riyals. That's a powerful idea. Together with our partners, we are proud to pioneer a new model of ownership that speaks to the inclusive and innovative spirit of Vision 2030.

Justin Sun Is Bullish On Dubai And Stablecoins. Here Is Why.
Justin Sun Is Bullish On Dubai And Stablecoins. Here Is Why.

Forbes

time3 hours ago

  • Forbes

Justin Sun Is Bullish On Dubai And Stablecoins. Here Is Why.

Justin Sun at Token 2049 conference in Dubai on May 1, 2025. (Photo by Giuseppe CACACE / AFP) (Photo ... More by GIUSEPPE CACACE/AFP via Getty Images) Justin Sun, the multi-billionaire behind Tron, is doubling down on Dubai as the crypto capital of the world. With Tron's network moving an eye-popping $20 billion in stablecoins every day, Sun's enthusiasm for the UAE is a strategic move. 'Everyone who matters in crypto is already here,' he told me on the sidelines of Token2049, the largest event in crypto that brought hundreds of international speakers and 15,000 attendees. We sat down to explore why he sees Dubai as the next frontier, how stablecoins are a cornerstone of Web3, even touched on how President Trump has become focal points of both public praise and scrutiny, as bitcoin and crypto increasingly intersects with politics, a dynamic that continues to shape the broader conversation around the industry. 'Previously, I would have pointed to Singapore as the crypto center," Sun said. "But now? It's definitely Dubai.' He is not alone in that view. From the largest exchanges, such as Binance and ByBit, to layer-one protocols, Dubai has become the go-to jurisdiction for launching and scaling crypto ventures, outpacing traditional strongholds like Singapore and Switzerland. Sun is observing this shift and acting on it. Tron and their affiliated businesses are in the process of securing regulatory approvals from multiple UAE virtual asset regulators, and Sun is excited to be laying roots in the region. 'We see our investments here in Dubai as pivotal for us and the entire industry,' he explained, highlighting plans to grow his team, host more events, and make the UAE a strategic anchor for Tron's global expansion. Sun's message is clear: Dubai is the strategic headquarters of Tron's next chapter. In addition to Dubai, Sun is also bullish on the future of stablecoins. 'In 2024, we processed around $5 trillion in stablecoins' Sun said casually. 'In 2025, we expect $7 trillion.' Yes, trillion. And that is not total market cap, it is on-chain volume, driven mainly by USDT running on the Tron network, at a pace of $20–30 billion per day. 'We've already surpassed the volume of some of the biggest traditional finance systems such as Visa,' he said. 'And we're just getting started.' Beyond transaction volume, Tron's growth in users is hard to ignore. With over 300 million wallets and an average of 250,000 new users per day, Tron is scaling faster than most blockchains outside of Ethereum. What is the appeal of Tron chain for stablecoins? It is fast and it costs almost nothing. Unlike Ethereum, where a simple stablecoin transfer can set you back $10 per transfer at times, on Tron you will pay less than a cent. 'We built Tron network for the world,' Sun added. 'It's borderless, inclusive, and designed for scale.' Sun's advisory role in the USD1 stablecoin project, tied to World Liberty Financial, has attracted attention, particularly because of the Trump family's involvement in related ventures in Dubai. 'I'm here to support them in building a robust crypto and stablecoin product,' he said. 'But this is their project. I'm just helping where I can, with no other links.' Some might see conflict in such close ties, but Sun sees alignment. In fact, he credits President Trump with bringing regulatory clarity to the United States at a time when the crypto industry was flailing in the dark. 'He's the only one who stepped up and gave clarity,' Sun said. 'And when the U.S. moves, the world watches.' Sun's bet is that pro-crypto leadership in the U.S. will drive a new wave of global adoption, and he plans to be on the front lines, supporting this administration that backs innovation. The stablecoin market currently stands at around $250 billion, which may sound substantial, until you realize it is a rounding error in a global fiat system worth over $130 trillion. For Sun, this is his starting block. 'What happens when we're processing $400 trillion a year on-chain?' he challenged. His vision is clear: every major currency - USD, EUR, JPY, CNY, AED - will eventually have its blockchain-native version. And Tron intends to be the rails beneath them all. 'We're not talking about digitizing dollars,' he explained. 'We're talking about moving the world's money infrastructure to blockchain. That's the real revolution.' When challenged about Tron's revenue streams, he said, 'Before we reach 8 billion people, we won't even think about monetization. We're building the future. Profit comes after impact.' It is a high-stakes approach, prioritizing reach and infrastructure over revenue. But in a space that rewards early network dominance, it may prove to be the right kind of patience. For anyone watching the evolution of money, one thing is clear: stablecoins are no longer a niche phenomenon. They are the core engine of Web3. And with chains like Tron driving volume, regulatory engagement, and infrastructure, the next wave of financial innovation will not be built by banks. It will be built on-chain. And it will be settled, according to Justin Sun on Tron.

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