News Archive for July 2016

This artist’s impression shows a view of the triple-star system HD 131399 (also known as HIP 72940 and 2MASS J14542529-3408342) from close to the Jupiter-like exoplanet orbiting in the system. HD 131399Ab and appears at the lower-left of the picture. Image credit: L. Calcada / ESO.

HD 131399Ab: Astronomers Find Super-Jupiter in Triple-Star System

Jul 7, 2016 by Enrico de Lazaro

Using ESO’s Very Large Telescope (VLT), astronomers have found a young Jupiter-like planet in a triple-star system. This artist’s impression shows...

This image from NASA’s Cassini robotic spacecraft shows Saturn’s A ring and its small moon Pan. Image credit: NASA / JPL / Space Science Institute.

Cassini Views Saturn’s Elusive Moon Pan

Jul 7, 2016 by Natali Anderson

Saturn’s flying saucer-shaped moon Pan, also known as Saturn XVIII, is seen in this stunning image from NASA’s Cassini spacecraft as it sweeps through...

Harmful algal bloom caused by nutrient pollution, Assateague island National Seashore, MD. Image credit: Eric Vance / U.S. EPA.

Reducing Water Pollution with Microbes and Wood Chips

Jul 6, 2016 by Laura Christianson, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Harmful algal bloom caused by nutrient pollution, Assateague island National Seashore, MD. Image credit: Eric Vance / U.S. EPA. Beneath fields of corn...

This composite image shows an infrared view of Titan. In this image blue represents wavelengths centered at 1.3 microns, green represents 2.0 microns, and red represents 5.0 microns. A view at visible wavelengths would show only Titan’s hazy atmosphere; the near-infrared wavelengths in this image allow Cassini’s vision to penetrate the haze and reveal the moon’s surface. The view looks toward terrain that is mostly on the Saturn-facing hemisphere of Titan. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / Space Science Institute.

Hydrogen Cyanide: Key to Prebiotic Conditions on Saturn’s Moon Titan

Jul 6, 2016 by News Staff

A team of researchers from Cornell University in Ithaca, NY, has uncovered a chemical trail that suggests prebiotic conditions may exist on the surface...

View of the LHCb detector. Image credit: CERN.

CERN Physicists Observe Three New Tetraquark Particles

Jul 6, 2016 by Enrico de Lazaro

Physicists on CERN’s LHCb collaboration say they’ve observed three new exotic particles – X(4274), X(4500) and X(4700) – and also confirmed the...

Deep-sea one-jawed eel (Monognathus) is shown with a venomous fang on the roof of the mouth. Image credit: W. Leo Smith.

Study Finds Venom Has Evolved 18 Times in Marine and Freshwater Fishes

Jul 6, 2016 by Enrico de Lazaro

Venom is so useful to fish that it evolved at least 18 times, according to a new study led by Dr. William Leo Smith of the University of Kansas Biodiversity...

Calciavis grandei stands by the shores of the Eocene fossil lake in Wyoming, roughly 50 million years ago, with a small rallid bird in the background. Image credit: Velizar Simeonovski.

Calciavis grandei: Kiwi Relatives Lived in North America 50M Years Ago

Jul 5, 2016 by News Staff

A nearly 50-million-year-old bird fossil unearthed in Wyoming represents a new species that is a close relative of living kiwis, ostriches, and emus, according...

Culex pipiens f. molestus, the mosquito species unique to the London Underground. Image credit: Walkabout12 / CC BY-SA.

Humans Now Drive Evolution on Earth, both Creating and Destroying Species

Jul 5, 2016 by Mark Maslin, University College London

Culex pipiens f. molestus, the mosquito species unique to the London Underground. Image credit: Walkabout12 / CC BY-SA. When scientists examine the impact...

Turing test: one judge-two hidden interlocutors. Image credit: Kevin Warwick & Huma Shah, Coventry University / Christopher Chapman, University of Reading.

New Study Exposes Major Flaw in Turing Test

Jul 5, 2016 by News Staff

A serious problem in the Turing test — a test posited by the famed British mathematician and computer scientist Alan Turing which, if passed, would...

Artistic reconstruction of the pathological individual of the hadrosauroid dinosaur Telmatosaurus transsylvanicus from the uppermost Cretaceous of the Hateg Basin, Romania, in rostral view, showing the probable life appearance of the mandibular deformity caused by ameloblastoma. Image credit: Mihai D. Dumbrava.

First Fossil Ameloblastoma Discovered in Cretaceous Dinosaur from Romania

Jul 5, 2016 by News Staff

The first-ever record of ameloblastoma — a rare, non-cancerous tumor that develops most often in the jaw near the molars – found in a fossil...

Juno arrives at Jupiter. Image credit: NASA / JPL.

NASA’s Juno Spacecraft Enters Orbit around Jupiter

Jul 5, 2016 by Natali Anderson

After almost five years and 1.7 billion miles (2.7 billion km), NASA’s Juno spacecraft successfully entered the orbit around the biggest planetary inhabitant...

Artist’s impression of New Horizons encountering a Pluto-like object in the distant Kuiper Belt. Image credit: NASA / JHUAPL / SwRI / Alex Parker.

NASA Officially Extends New Horizons Mission

Jul 4, 2016 by Enrico de Lazaro

NASA’s New Horizons robotic probe has received the green light to fly onward to the Kuiper Belt object (KBO) 2014 MU69. Artist’s impression of New...

This illustration depicts NASA’s Juno spacecraft at Jupiter, with its solar arrays and main antenna pointed toward the distant Sun and Earth. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech.

Juno Ready to Encounter Solar System’s Biggest Planet

Jul 4, 2016 by News Staff

NASA’s Juno spacecraft will arrive at Jupiter, the most massive planet in our Solar System, later today (July 4) to orbit the gas giant for 20 months...

This Hubble image shows the dwarf galaxy LEDA 677373. Image credit: NASA / ESA / Hubble.

Hubble Space Telescope Finds Victim of Cosmic Crime

Jul 4, 2016 by News Staff

The NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope has imaged an ancient and faint dwarf galaxy called LEDA 677373. This Hubble image shows the dwarf galaxy LEDA 677373....

This artist’s rendering shows Juno making one of its close passes over Jupiter. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech.

Scientists Excited as Juno Nears Jupiter

Jul 3, 2016 by News Staff

NASA’s Jupiter-bound Juno spacecraft is on course to swing into orbit around the gas giant on Monday, July 4. This artist’s rendering shows Juno making...

Two sizes of ripples are evident in this December 13, 2015, view of a top of a Martian sand dune, from Curiosity. Sand dunes and the smaller type of ripples also exist on Earth. The larger ripples -- roughly 10 feet (3 m) apart -- are a type not seen on our planet nor previously recognized as a distinct type on Mars. Scale bar - 2 m (79 inches). Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / MSSS.

Scientists Discover New Type of Sand Dune — on Mars

Jul 1, 2016 by Enrico de Lazaro

A team of planetary scientists led by researchers at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) has discovered a type of dune on Mars intermediate...

This false-color image shows Escherichia coli. Image credit: Geralt.

Pan-Drug Resistant ‘Superbug’ Found in US

Jul 1, 2016 by Rafid Rahman

This false-color image shows Escherichia coli. Image credit: Geralt. ‘Superbug’ bacteria affect two million people and kill at least 23,000 Americans...

Occator crater (center) appears to be among the youngest features on Ceres. Dawn mission scientists estimate its age to be about 78 million years old. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / UCLA / MPS / DLR / IDA.

Hydrothermal Activity May Explain Mysterious Bright Spots on Ceres

Jul 1, 2016 by News Staff

Anomalously bright areas on the dwarf planet Ceres have the highest concentration of sodium carbonate ever seen outside our planet, says a new study published...

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