Astronomers using the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope have detected the most deuterium-rich methane ever measured in the Solar System, hinting that the interstellar visitor’s ices formed in a cold, distant, low-metallicity environment. Hubble captured this image of 3I/ATLAS on July 21, 2025, when the comet was 446 million km (277 million miles) from Earth. Image credit: NASA / ESA / David...

Haloferax volcanii, a model halophilic (salt-loving) archaeon, showed growth during a 160-day experiment simulating Martian subsurface brine, according to a paper published in the journal Applied and Environmental Microbiology. The authors stress the result does not mean life exists on Mars. This SEM micrograph (12,000x magnification) shows Haloferax volcanii after 160 days of anaerobic incubation...

A new analysis by University of South Wales Professor Duncan Pirrie and his colleagues undercuts the leading theory that the 6-ton slab of sandstone came from northeastern Scotland, though the geologists stop short of ruling it out entirely. The Altar Stone lies flat on the ground, sunk into the grass beneath the collapsed upright of the Great Trilithon and its lintel. Image credit: Nick Pearce,...

A new species of extinct megapode bird — a ground-dwelling relative of the chicken that was several times heavier than its living cousin — has been identified from a single fragment of leg bone found in a cave on the Indonesian island of Flores. Megapodius rokusi (left) next to Megapodius reinwardt (right). Image credit: Davin Arya Nirwasita. The newly described species belongs to the...

Haloferax volcanii, a model halophilic (salt-loving) archaeon, showed growth during a 160-day experiment simulating Martian subsurface brine, according to a paper published in the journal Applied and Environmental Microbiology. The authors stress the result does not mean life exists on Mars. This SEM micrograph (12,000x magnification) shows Haloferax volcanii after 160 days of anaerobic incubation...

Physicists with the LHCb Collaboration at CERN’s Large Hadron Collider announced today evidence for an extremely rare particle decay that scientists have chased for more than four decades, and their result agrees with the Standard Model of particle physics. The LHCb magnet. Image credit: CERN. “What we found in these latest results is an incredibly rare decay of one of these beauty particles,...

Scientists have identified a receptor on sensory nerves that appears to detect a fatty-acid byproduct found at high levels in psoriasis skin, and blocking it eased itch and skin thickening in mice. Wheeler et al. identify a metabolic- to-sensory axis in which EKODE, an endogenous dietary linoleic acid derivative, acts as a potent ligand for the G protein-coupled receptor 35 (Gpr35) to drive chronic...

Humans and chimpanzees share more than 96% of their protein-coding DNA, yet human brains are roughly three times larger and far more complex. New research led by Lund University scientists suggests that part of the explanation may lie in a viral infection that struck chimpanzee ancestors millions of years ago and never reached ours. Gerdes et al. show that LINC00662, a human-specific transcript expressed...

A new analysis by University of South Wales Professor Duncan Pirrie and his colleagues undercuts the leading theory that the 6-ton slab of sandstone came from northeastern Scotland, though the geologists stop short of ruling it out entirely. The Altar Stone lies flat on the ground, sunk into the grass beneath the collapsed upright of the Great Trilithon and its lintel. Image credit: Nick Pearce,...

Few people enjoy their first sip of coffee, yet millions come to crave it. Scientists at the University of California, San Francisco, say they have identified part of the reason: a slow dopamine signal that runs from the gut to the brain and teaches us to like foods that make us feel good. Their findings appear today in the journal Nature. Grove et al. identify a dopamine pathway that enables learning...