Astronomers at the Curtin University node at the International Centre for Radio Astronomy Research (ICRAR) have found a white dwarf that beams out radio pulses every 7.9 minutes while circling a star much like our Sun. It is the first time such a signal has been traced to a white dwarf with a Sun-like partner. An artist’s impression of the GPM J071507-114153 binary system. Image credit: N. Hurley-Walker. Called...

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...

Archaeologists say 46 low-fired shards from Çemka Höyük, a Neolithic site in Türkiye, suggest people were testing clay’s possibilities long before pottery became common. Fragments of clay vessels from Çemka Höyük, Türkiye. Image credit: N. Petrova / E. Kodaş. “Adoption of a new object, style or technology requires its integration within wider cultural, social and temporal spheres,”...

Early sauropodomorph skulls from the Late Triassic are scarce. A newly described one from South Africa’s Eastern Cape belongs to a previously unknown species: Nyana rooiwalensis. Nyana rooiwalensis. Image credit: Steven Saunders / Atashni-Moopen. Nyana rooiwalensis was a type of sauropodomorph, a group that includes giant, long-necked sauropods, such as Brontosaurus. The new species roamed the...

Researchers from the National University of Singapore, the University of Naples Federico II and the Haus des Meeres aquarium in Austria have filmed the marine animals escaping through tight openings and found a consistent sequence of moves, one that could inform the design of soft robots. Octopus vulgaris’ three- and four-step strategies to squeeze through a larger hole. Image credit: Xin et al.,...

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,...

Replacing ordinary salt with a potassium-enriched alternative worldwide could prevent about 3 million deaths from heart and kidney disease every year, according to a new modeling study. Huang et al. find large global health gains from replacing regular table salt, but caution that people with advanced kidney disease face risks. Image credit: Pictavio. “Consuming too much sodium and not enough potassium...

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,...

A new analysis of Neanderthal fossils suggests that their feet worked differently from ours, shaped by heavy bodies, long days on uneven ground and, possibly, a distinct inheritance from earlier human relatives. Neanderthal heel and ankle joints suggest they typically walked with a flatter, inward-rolling foot. Image credit: Holger Neumann / Neanderthal Museum. “The human foot is one of the anatomical...