New research by astronomers from the University of California, Riverside, Sam Houston State University and the University of Oklahoma suggests decaying dark matter could have triggered the rapid collapse of early gas clouds, helping supermassive black holes form far sooner than current theories allow. Aggarwal et al. show that the energy released from dark matter decay could alter the chemistry of...

NASA’s Curiosity rover has detected more than 20 carbon-containing compounds — including seven never before seen on Mars — in a sample collected from 3.5-billion-year-old clay-bearing sandstones in Gale Crater. A close-up of three holes Curiosity drilled into Martian rock at a location nicknamed Mary Anning in October 2020. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / MSSS. Nicknamed Mary Anning...

Hominins at the Acheulian site of Gesher Benot Ya’aqov in Israel relied on driftwood gathered along a lakeshore to fuel their hearths, according to new research led by archaeologists from the Institut Català de Paleoecologia Humana i Evolució Social and Bar-Ilan University; 780,000-year-old charcoal fragments from the site show that survival wasn’t about finding the perfect wood — it...

Paleontologists have descibed a new species of the multituberculate mammal genus Cimolodon based on a fossil found in Baja California, Mexico. An illustration of Cimolodon desosai on the tree with a fruit in its mouth. Image credit: Andrey Atuchin. The newly-described mammal species lived in what is now Mexico about 75 million years ago (Cretaceous period). Named Cimolodon desosai, the ancient creature...

A comprehensive genome-wide analysis of Amazonian two-toed sloths (genus Choloepus) suggests the animals are more genetically diverse than once believed, raising the possibility of previously unrecognized species. The Hoffmann’s two-toed sloth (Choloepus hoffmanni). Image credit: Camila Mazzoni. Two-toed sloths are slow-moving, tree-dwelling mammals native to Central and South American rainforests. Despite...

New research by astronomers from the University of California, Riverside, Sam Houston State University and the University of Oklahoma suggests decaying dark matter could have triggered the rapid collapse of early gas clouds, helping supermassive black holes form far sooner than current theories allow. Aggarwal et al. show that the energy released from dark matter decay could alter the chemistry of...

In a large clinical trial, Tufts University researcher Bess Dawson-Hughes and colleagues found that vitamin D supplements reduced diabetes risk only in people with certain genetic variants, pointing toward a more personalized approach to prevention. Dawson-Hughes et al. found prediabetic adults with certain variations in the vitamin D receptor gene had a 19% lower risk of developing diabetes when...

A comprehensive genome-wide analysis of Amazonian two-toed sloths (genus Choloepus) suggests the animals are more genetically diverse than once believed, raising the possibility of previously unrecognized species. The Hoffmann’s two-toed sloth (Choloepus hoffmanni). Image credit: Camila Mazzoni. Two-toed sloths are slow-moving, tree-dwelling mammals native to Central and South American rainforests. Despite...

If you’ve ever wondered how geologists know so much about ancient beaches and shallow oceans — from the paleoenvironment to the animals roaming around, the seasonality of the weather, and even the time of day when the ancient scene was preserved — they owe it all to the sand particles bound together by microbes, forming structures known as microbial mats. A planar microbial mat with...

Researchers have developed a fast, practical test to evaluate quality of black coffee, offering baristas and scientists a clearer window into flavor without complex lab work. Bumbaugh et al. show that cyclic voltammetry can be used without any additional sample preparation to directly measure the strength of a coffee beverage and, separately, how dark the coffee has been roasted. Image credit: Sci.News. Existing...