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welcome to science visualization Corner
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today we're uncovering a groundbreaking
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discovery about one of Earth's most
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significant evolutionary
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events in a fascinating Discovery
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researchers from John's Hopkins
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University have found that prehistoric
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worms played a crucial role in boosting
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oxygen levels in the ocean leading to a
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massive burst of new species around 480
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million years ago this period known as
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the great tivis biodiversification event
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saw a rapid increase in the number of
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different species on Earth the study
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published in geochimica ET cosmochimica
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ACTA reveals how the burrowing
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activities of these ancient worms helped
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mix ocean Flo sediments releasing oxygen
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atmosphere this increase in oxygen was
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vital for the development of new life
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forms Maya Gomez the senior author of
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the study in an assistant professor at
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explains it's incredible to think that
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such small animals could have such a
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profound impact on the course of
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evolution the research team updated
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models to understand how oxygen levels
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changed over millions of years they
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found that as worms and other
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invertebrates burrowed into the ocean
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floor they helped form a mineral called
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pyite the more pyite that formed and got
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buried the more oxygen levels
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increased they discovered that even a
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small amount of sediment mixing could
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significantly boost oxygen levels this
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challenges the previous belief that too
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much mixing would prevent oxygen from
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accumulating doctoral candidate K of
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hansu describes it as a Goldilocks
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effect where conditions had to be just
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right for oxygen to increase enough
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mixing to bring oxygen into the sediment
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but not so much that it destroyed the
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pyite when the new model was applied it
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showed that oxygen levels stayed flat
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for millions of years before Rising
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sharply During the tivis
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period this rise in oxygen likely
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contributed to the explosion of new
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species during the Great or divis
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event Gomez adds This research helps us
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understand the relationship between
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oxygen levels and the moments in history
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when life on Earth became more diverse
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it also helps us focus on other factors
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that might drive Evolution join us as we
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explore how these tiny prehistoric worms
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had a giant impact on the history of
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life on Earth don't forget to like
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scientific discoveries
