Breaking Frontiers: From Pig-Like Ancestors to Sino-French Satellites

This summary covers the latest science news, including the Sino-French satellite launch to study farthest star explosions, insights into mammalian brain evolution from an ancient pig-like creature, NASA's delay of Boeing Starliner's return for further checks, and the discovery of ancient crocodile-like reptile fossils in Brazil.

Following is a summary of current science news briefs.

Sino-French satellite launched into orbit, China's CCTV says

A satellite developed by China and France, the most powerful yet for studying the farthest explosion of stars, was launched into orbit on Saturday, Chinese state broadcaster CCTV reported. The satellite to study phenomena including gamma-ray bursts was lifted into orbit by a Chinese carrier rocket launched from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in the southwestern province of Sichuan, CCTV said.

Ancient pig-like animal shows beginnings of mammalian brain evolution

More than 250 million years ago, Scotland was not veiled in mist and rain, as it often is today, but rather a desert blanketed in sand dunes. One of the denizens of this challenging landscape was a squat, vaguely pig-like mammal forerunner named Gordonia, with a pug face and two tusks protruding from beaked jaws. Using high-resolution, three-dimensional imaging on a fossil of this Permian Period creature, researchers have been able to see its brain cavity and make a digital replica of the brain, providing insight into the size and composition of this crucial organ at an early stage in mammalian evolution.

NASA delays return of Boeing Starliner for more technical checks

NASA has further postponed the Boeing Starliner's return to Earth from the International Space Station with its first crew of astronauts, to allow more time for review of technical issues encountered, the agency said on Friday. It did not set a new date, raising questions about the timing of the return of the two astronauts on Boeing's first crewed mission, which had initially been set for June 26, itself a pushback from the first potential date of June 14.

Fossils of ancient crocodile-like reptile found in Brazil

A Brazilian scientist has identified fossils of a small crocodile-like reptile that lived during the Triassic Period several million years before the first dinosaurs. The fossils of the predator, called Parvosuchus aurelioi, include a complete skull, 11 vertebrae, the pelvis and some limb bones, according to paleontologist Rodrigo Muller of the Federal University of Santa Maria in Rio Grande state, author of the research published on Thursday the journal Scientific Reports.

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