News Archive for December 2016

An anatomical illustration from Sobotta’s Human Anatomy, 1908.

Mesentery: Researchers Reclassify Part of Digestive System as Organ

Dec 23, 2016 by News Staff

The mesentery, which connects the intestine to the abdomen, had for hundreds of years been considered a fragmented structure made up of multiple separate...

Limusaurus inextricabilis is the only known reptile to lose its teeth and form a beak after birth. Image credit: Yu Chen.

Limusaurus: Beaked, Bird-Like Dinosaur Species Had Teeth as Juveniles, Lost Them as They Grew

Dec 23, 2016 by News Staff

An international team of paleontologists has discovered that Limusaurus inextricabilis, a species of Jurassic dinosaur, lost its teeth in adolescence and...

The newly-discovered ancient wall at Qubbet el-Hawa, Aswan. Image credit: University of Birmingham.

Archaeologists Find Compelling Evidence for New Pharaonic Tombs in Egypt

Dec 22, 2016 by News Staff

Archaeologists from the University of Birmingham and the Egypt Exploration Society (EES) Qubbet el-Hawa Research Project (QHRP) yesterday announced the...

Denisovans were probably dark-skinned, unlike the pale Neandertals. The picture shows a Neanderthal man. Image credit: Mauro Cutrona.

Inuits Inherited Cold Adaptation Genes from Denisovan-Related Species

Dec 22, 2016 by News Staff

In the Arctic, the Inuits have adapted to cold and a seafood diet. After the first genomic analysis of Greenlandic Inuits, a region in the genome containing...

According to Danmei Su et al., vitamin D improves gut flora. Image credit: Richard Stockton College of New Jersey.

Vitamin D Improves Gut Microbiota, Study Finds

Dec 22, 2016 by News Staff

According to a study published in the journal Frontiers in Physiology, extra vitamin D can restore good bacteria in the gut, giving hope in the fight against...

Capsaicin is found in Capsicum peppers. Image credit: Hans Braxmeier.

Hot Pepper Compound Inhibits Growth of Breast Cancer Cells

Dec 22, 2016 by News Staff

Capsaicin, a compound found in peppers of the genus Capsicum, inhibits the growth of breast cancer cells, according to a team of researchers in Germany. Capsaicin...

$Global map of seismic data and ages of ocean crust: the location of seismic refraction data (circles) and mantle hotspots (white stars) were used to examine whether mid-plate volcanism substantially influenced the thickness of aged ocean crust; the modern mid-ocean ridge system is marked by a yellow line; areas in violet outline large igneous provinces. Image credit: Harm J. A. Van Avendonk et al, doi: 10.1038/ngeo2849.$

Pangea Breakup Cooled Earth’s Mantle, Thinned Crust

Dec 21, 2016 by News Staff

According to a new study, the oceanic crust produced by Earth today is thinner than crust made 170 million years ago during the time of the supercontinent...

This Hubble image shows NGC 248, a nebula located in the Small Magellanic Cloud. The data used in this image were taken with Hubble’s Advanced Camera for Surveys in September 2015. Image credit: NASA / ESA / STScI / K. Sandstrom, University of California, San Diego / SMIDGE Team.

Hubble Space Telescope Spies NGC 248

Dec 21, 2016 by News Staff

The NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope has snapped a spectacular image of NGC 248, a glowing pink nebula in the Small Magellanic Cloud. This Hubble image...

Light and color would look different on a planet orbiting a tiny red star, like this artist’s impression of Proxima b. The Earth-sized planet in the habitable zone is the nearest exoplanet to our Sun. Image credit: ESO / M. Kornmesser.

Are Exoplanets Like Those in ‘Star Wars: Rogue One’ Really Out There?

Dec 21, 2016 by NASA

In the ‘Star Wars’ universe, ice, ocean and desert planets burst from the darkness as your ship drops out of light speed. But these worlds might be...

Exceptionally preserved archaeobotanical remains from the Takarkori rock shelter, Tadrart Acacus, Libya, dating from 7500 to 4200 BC: a - inflorescence of Typha (Late Acacus 3, c. 6800 BC); b - syconium of Ficus sp. (Late Acacus 2, 7500 BC); c - galbulus of Cupressus (Middle Pastoral 2); d - spikelet of Tragus (Middle Pastoral 2, 4200 BC); e - legumes of Cassia (Early Pastoral 1, 6350 BC); f - fruit of Balanites aegyptica (Late Acacus 3, 6800 BC); g - spikelet of Dactyloctenium aegyptium and a detailed image of the grain (Middle Pastoral 2, 4200 BC). Image credit: Julie Dunne et al, doi: 10.1038/nplants.2016.194.

Oldest Evidence for Plant Processing in Pottery Found

Dec 21, 2016 by News Staff

An international team of archaeologists has discovered the earliest evidence of humans processing plants for food found anywhere in the world. The findings...

World’s Largest Digital Survey of Visible Universe Released

Dec 20, 2016 by News Staff

The largest digital survey of the visible Universe, mapping billions of stars and galaxies, has been publicly released. Pan-STARRS sky survey. Image credit:...

An artist’s conception of Tingmiatornis arctica’s possible environment 90 million years ago, characterized by volcanic activity, a freshwater bay, turtles, fish, and champsosaurs. Image credit: Michael Osadciw, University of Rochester.

Tingmiatornis arctica: Large, Toothed Water Bird Lived in High Arctic 90 Million Years Ago

Dec 20, 2016 by News Staff

A team of paleontologists has found the remains of a prehistoric bird that lived 90 million years ago (Cretaceous period) in the Canadian Arctic. An artist’s...

This composite image of NGC 6357 contains X-ray data from NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory and the ROSAT telescope (purple), infrared data from NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope (orange), and optical data from the SuperCosmos Sky Survey (blue) made by the United Kingdom Infrared Telescope. Image credit: X-ray – NASA / CXC / PSU / L.Townsley et al; optical - UKIRT; infrared – NASA / JPL-Caltech.

NASA Releases Spectacular Image of NGC 6357

Dec 20, 2016 by News Staff

NASA has released an amazing composite image of NGC 6357, a region where radiation from hot, young stars is energizing the surrounding gas and dust. This...

ESA’s Swarm satellites have led the discovery of a jet stream in the liquid iron part of Earth’s core about 1,870 miles beneath the surface. In addition, Swarm data show that this jet stream is speeding up. Image credit: ESA.

Researchers Discover Jet Stream in Earth’s Molten Iron Core

Dec 20, 2016 by News Staff

A jet stream within the Earth’s core has been discovered by researchers using data from ESA’s Swarm satellite mission. ESA’s Swarm satellites have...

Artist’s impression of a cloud of trapped antihydrogen atoms. Image credit: Chukman So.

CERN Physicists Observe Light Spectrum of Antimatter for the First Time

Dec 19, 2016 by News Staff

Physicists from CERN’s ALPHA experiment today report the first ever measurement on the optical spectrum of an antimatter atom. Artist’s impression...

Aboriginal rock art from western Arnhem Land depicts style known as Northern Running Figures. Image credit: Tristen Jones.

Researchers Obtain First Reliable Radiocarbon Dates for Australian Aboriginal Rock Art

Dec 19, 2016 by News Staff

A novel technique developed by a team of researchers in Australia has made it possible to produce some of the first reliable radiocarbon dates for Australian...

This pointy-nosed blue chimaera (Hydrolagus trolli) was videotaped by MBARI’s remotely operated vehicle Tiburon near Hawaii at a depth of 5,384 feet (1,641 m). Image credit: Amber N. Reichert et al, doi: 10.1186/s41200-016-0095-5.

Pointy-Nosed Blue Chimaera Spotted in North Pacific Ocean

Dec 19, 2016 by News Staff

A large deep-water fish that was previously identified in the Southeastern Pacific has recently been found around the Hawaiian Islands and off the coast...

This image shows the spiral galaxy NGC 4707, which lies in the constellation Canes Venatici, about 22 million light-years away. Image credit: NASA / ESA / Hubble.

Hubble Space Telescope Looks at Nearby Spiral

Dec 19, 2016 by News Staff

The Hubble team has released a stunning image snapped by the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope of the bright spiral galaxy NGC 4707. This image shows the...

Hubble’s view of Jupiter. Image credit: NASA.

Teasing Out the Secrets beneath Jupiter’s Cloud Tops

Dec 17, 2016 by James Romero

As NASA’s Juno probe makes its closest flyby of the gas giant, new research from France’s space agency could help make more sense of the data it sends...

Neptune-mass planets like the one shown in this artist’s rendering may be the most common in the icy regions of planetary systems; beyond a certain distance from a young star, water and other substances remain frozen, leading to an abundant population of icy objects that can collide and form the cores of new planets; in the foreground, an icy body left over from this period drifts past the planet. Image credit: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center / Francis Reddy.

‘Cold Neptunes’ are Common, New Study Says

Dec 16, 2016 by News Staff

A new statistical study of exoplanets found by an innovative technique called gravitational microlensing suggests that so-called ‘cold Neptunes’ are...

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