In a groundbreaking discovery, scientists in Brazil have discovered the world’s oldest known ant fossil of a 113-million-year-old specimen of a fearsome predator known as a “hell ant.” Unearthed from limestone in northeastern Brazil, this fossil dramatically reshapes our understanding of ant evolution, pushing back their known history by over 13 million years. Published in Current Biology, the study reveals that ants were already diverse and widespread during the time of dinosaurs. With scythe-like jaws used to impale prey, this ancient insect highlights how complex and specialised ants were, even in their earliest forms.

What are hell ants

Hell ants are an extinct subfamily of ants known scientifically as Haidomyrmecinae. They lived during the Cretaceous period, between 145 and 66 million years ago. What makes them especially fascinating is their unique jaw structure: instead of moving side to side like modern ants, their scythe-shaped jaws curved upward and were likely used to impale or pin down prey. This brutal hunting method gives them their dramatic nickname.
These ants are among the most anatomically distinct ever discovered and are considered one of the most intriguing ant groups in evolutionary history.

What does the 113-year-old hell ant fossil reveal

The newly discovered fossil is a winged female ant, possibly a queen, and was found in limestone deposits from the Crato Formation in northeastern Brazil. It has been named Vulcanidris cratensis, combining “Vulcano,” the name of the family who donated the rock, and “idris,” a suffix commonly used in ant taxonomy meaning “the provident one.”
At 113 million years old, the fossil predates the previously oldest known ant specimens, found in amber in Myanmar and France, by approximately 13 million years.

How scientists peek into the fiery preying technique of hell ants

Lead researcher Anderson Lepeco and his team at the Museu de Zoologia da Universidade de Sao Paulo used a high-resolution 3D imaging technique called micro-computed tomography to examine the fossil trapped in limestone. This allowed scientists to study the insect’s internal structures, particularly its jaws, in extraordinary detail. when a small insect came close, the hell ant would quickly snap its jaws shut in an upward motion, trapping the prey against its horn. This action would pierce or pin the prey in place, like a fork stabbing food against a plate.
This style of attack was very different from modern ants, whose jaws usually move side to side. Hell ants’ upward-striking jaws gave them an evolutionary edge in ambushing and killing prey.
“When I started to look at it and compared it to fossils from Myanmar, I was just shocked,” said Lepeco. “I was very, very excited. I was jumping through the lab.”

The incredible world of ants

Ants have fascinated scientists for decades, not only because of their ancient origins but also due to their incredible capabilities today. These tiny insects are among the most ecologically dominant animals on Earth, with an estimated population of nearly 20 quadrillion. Found on every continent except Antarctica, that’s about 2.5 million ants for every human on the planet.
They are known for their complex social organisation, advanced communication systems, and even medical skills. Some species can perform amputations to save wounded nestmates. Others can be trained to use their keen sense of smell to detect diseases such as cancer. Their sex lives and reproductive strategies also surprise researchers, making ants a truly remarkable group in the animal kingdom.

Why this discovery matters

The fossil offers the earliest undisputed evidence of ants in South America and pushes back the known presence of ants on the continent by over 60 million years. According to Corentin Jouault, an evolutionary biologist at the University of Oxford, this is a breakthrough in paleomyrmecology, the study of ancient ants. It also supports the theory that ants were already widespread during the time of Gondwana, the ancient supercontinent that included present-day South America, Africa, India, and other landmasses.

What lies ahead

Scientists now plan to expand their research by building a larger database of ancient ant fossils to better understand how ants evolved. This discovery also highlights the importance of museum collections, as the fossil was found in rocks that had been stored for years, unnoticed.
As researchers continue to explore both field sites and forgotten drawers in collections, the fiery story of hell ants serves as a reminder that some of Earth’s most historic secrets are still waiting to be uncovered.

Motorola has designed the earbuds to easily switch between devices with its “Smart Connect” feature. This allows users to connect seamlessly to other Motorola and Lenovo devices via Bluetooth, which offers a quick and simple pairing process.

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In terms of battery life, the Moto Buds Loop offers up to eight hours of use on a single charge, while the included charging case provides an additional 37 hours of battery life, making it ideal for extended use without frequent charging, claims the company. Whether commuting, exercising, or on a long trip, the Moto Buds Loop promises to keep you powered for days.

Design and Built Quality

The earbuds are designed for all-day wear and feature a lightweight and secure fit. Motorola also highlights the water-repellent design of the earbuds that ensures they are resistant to sweat, splashes, and general wear and tear. This makes them suitable for various activities, from daily use to outdoor adventures.

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The Moto Buds Loop also includes the CrystalTalk AI technology, which further enhances call clarity. When paired with compatible Motorola phones, users can activate Moto AI voice actions, such as requesting meeting summaries or controlling media playback through Smart Connect.

Wear Like Jewellery

Motorola is tapping into the luxury market with a special edition of the Moto Buds Loop, which features Swarovski crystals for an elegant touch. This premium version comes in the “Pantone French Oak” colour, while a more understated Trekking Green option is also available for those who prefer a simpler aesthetic.

Moto Buds Loop: Price and Availability

While the Moto Buds Loop shows promise in both audio quality and style, Motorola has not yet announced a specific price or release date. The company has only stated that the earbuds will be available “in the coming months.”

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Moto Watch Fit: Key Features

In addition to the Moto Buds Loop open-ear earbuds, Motorola has also unveiled the Moto Watch Fit, a sleek smartwatch designed for Android users. The Moto Watch Fit features a 1.9-inch OLED display with a brightness of up to 1000 nits, which allows users to easily read in direct sunlight. The watch is built with a slim aluminium frame and is protected with Corning Gorilla Glass 3 for durability.

The Moto Watch Fit is packed with features like over 100 workout modes, built-in GPS, advanced heart rate monitoring, and sleep tracking, making it a solid fitness companion. With 16 days of battery life and IP68 and 5ATM water resistance, the watch is ready for a variety of activities. Users can also personalise their watch faces with custom wallpapers generated via Moto AI. Additionally, it has a long-lasting 16-day battery life and is compatible with 22mm watch bands, claims the company.

In a stunning cosmological find, astronomers saw an ultra-massive and magnetic stellar remnant speeding through our galaxy at record speed. Called a “zombie star,” the object—properly known as SGR 0501+4516—is moving through the Milky Way at over 110,000 miles per hour (177,000 km/h). Even more dramatic is the star’s fatal magnetic field capable of ripping human matter apart atom by atom.
But aside from its velocity and brutality, the origin of this star is confounding astronomers and could redefine existing theories of how such objects are formed.

A ‘zombie star’ SGR 0501+4516 moving through Milky Way

SGR 0501+4516 is a magnetar—a neutron star with an unusual and extreme magnetic field. Neutron stars in general are dense remnants of giant stars that exploded as supernovae. Though tiny, a little larger than a city, neutron stars contain more mass than our Sun and are among the densest objects known in the universe, except for black holes.
Magnetars, though, take it a step further. With magnetic fields as much as 100 trillion times more powerful than Earth’s, they are the most magnetic objects in the universe. Only about 30 of these objects have been found in our galaxy.
SGR 0501+4516 was discovered in 2008, about 15,000 light-years from Earth. But a new study published April 15 in the journal Astronomy & Astrophysics has found something surprising: it’s not only strong—it’s also speeding through space at a surprisingly high speed.

Magnetic field strength of the ‘zombie star’

The magnetic field strength of SGR 0501+4516 is unimaginable. If it were to fly by at half the distance to the Moon, its magnetism would wipe out all credit cards on the planet. Get within 600 miles, and its magnetic force would dissolve the human body on an atomic level. Fortunately, the magnetar is no threat to our solar system and will stay safely far away.
By employing data from the European Space Agency’s Gaia spacecraft as well as the Hubble Space Telescope, scientists tracked the magnetar’s recent history and discovered a great enigma. At first assumed to have been born of the local supernova remnant HB9, SGR 0501+4516 was travelling much too quickly—and in the opposite direction—to have been born out of that place.
Indeed, when researchers mapped its galactic trajectory over the course of millennia, they found it doesn’t seem to be associated with any supernova remnants or giant star clusters. That’s a fly in the ointment of the conventional view of magnetar formation.

Zombie star hints at rare cosmic transformation

This surprising path has brought astronomers to a new theory: SGR 0501+4516 could have developed without a supernova explosion whatsoever. Rather, it could have resulted from the direct collapse of a white dwarf—the dense core that remains after a medium-sized star exhausts its fuel.
Usually, a white dwarf would explode as a supernova if nuclear reactions are triggered within it. But in exceptional conditions, theorists have suggested, it could instead collapse directly into a neutron star without going through the explosive stage.
“We think that this magnetar might have been formed through this exotic pathway,” said Andrew Levan, study co-author and astronomer at Radboud University and the University of Warwick.

Zombie star theory could unlock cosmic mysteries

This uncommon formation mechanism may have wider cosmic implications. If white dwarf collapse can actually produce magnetars, it may shed light on the enigmatic fast radio bursts (FRBs)—brief, brilliant pulses of radio waves—from distant galaxies that are too old to contain star deaths.
The group stresses that additional observational information is required to verify this theory. But the research raises new questions regarding magnetar formation and their contribution toward creating some of the universe’s most powerful and fleeting phenomena. “Figuring out where magnetars are born is one of the greatest challenges of high-energy astrophysics,” said study co-author Nanda Rea, an astrophysicist at Spain’s Institute of Space Sciences in Barcelona. “It might help us understand some of the most violent events in the universe.”
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