Articles by Enrico de Lazaro

Dwarf planet Sedna. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / R. Hurt, SSC-Caltech.

2015 RR245: New Dwarf Planet Discovered in Solar System’s Kuiper Belt

Jul 12, 2016 by Enrico de Lazaro

Astronomers have discovered a new dwarf planet in the Kuiper Belt, a vast ring of icy debris that is encircling the outer rim of our Solar System just...

The Pauli exclusion principle predicts a forbidden zone along a meridian of the spherical halo of scattered particles, which the experiments indeed unveiled. The dark band in the graphic shows a rule derived from the principle in action. This rule is that indistinguishable fermions cannot scatter out at 90 degrees to the collision axis. Image credit: Niels Kjærgaard.

Pauli Exclusion: Physicists Directly Observe Key Principle of Quantum Mechanics

Jul 11, 2016 by Enrico de Lazaro

An international team of scientists, led by Dr. Niels Kjærgaard from the University of Otago in Dunedin, New Zealand, has used steerable ‘optical tweezers’...

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...

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...

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...

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...

Kankuamo marquezi, male. Image credit: Dirk Weinmann.

Newly-Discovered Species of Tarantula Named after Gabriel Garcia Marquez

Jun 30, 2016 by Enrico de Lazaro

A relatively large species of tarantula discovered in an isolated mountain range in Colombia has been named after the famed Colombian novelist and 1982...

A false-color image of the narrow opal rim surrounding a bright metallic mineral inclusion in the Antarctic meteorite EET 83309; the circular holes in this image are spots where laser analyses have been performed. Image credit: Hilary Downes et al.

Scientists Find Tiny Pieces of Opal in Meteorite

Jun 29, 2016 by Enrico de Lazaro

Small pieces of the mineral opal have been found within a brecciated ureilite meteorite from Antarctica. According to a team of scientists led by Prof....

Left: phytoliths from Poaceae bulliform cells and bi-peaked tubercles from rice husks recovered from Huxi: 1, 2, 3 - rice; 4 - reed; 5 - bamboo; 6, 7, 8 - silvergrass; 9, 10 - bi-peaked tubercles of rice. Right: charred plant remains from Huxi: 1 - self-heal; 2 - cupgrass; 3, 17 - sedge family; 4-6 - carbonized rice; 7-13 - rice rachillae; 14-15 - rice husks fragments; 16 - knotweed/smartweed; 18 - bristlegrass; 19 – crabgrass; 20 - tall fringe-rush; 21, 22 – foxnut. Image credit: Y. Zheng et al.

Archaeologists Find Evidence of Domesticated Rice in China 9,000 Years Ago

Jun 23, 2016 by Enrico de Lazaro

The earliest evidence of domesticated rice (Oryza sativa), one of the world’s most important cereal grains, has been found in China, and it’s 9,000...

This New Horizons image shows Pluto’s small moon Nix. Image credit: NASA / Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory / Southwest Research Institute.

Pluto’s Small Moon Nix is Covered in Relatively Pure Water Ice

Jun 23, 2016 by Enrico de Lazaro

The latest data from NASA’s New Horizons probe reveal a water-ice signature on the surface of Nix, one of Pluto’s five known moons. This New Horizons...

$Four of the projectile point fragments recovered from Kuumbi Cave: (A, C and G) impact fractures; (B and D) possible retrieval cut marks; (E) rounded tip; (F) post-depositional fracture revealing bone surface; (H) change in surface appearance. Magnification: A, C, G, and H at 65x; B at 85x; D at 100x; E at 200x. Image credit: Michelle C. Langley et al.$

Eastern Africans Hunted with Poison-Tipped Arrows at least 13,000 Years Ago

Jun 23, 2016 by Enrico de Lazaro

A team of archaeologists studying bone artifacts discovered in a cave on the island of Unguja in the Zanzibar archipelago of Tanzania has found evidence...

Astronomers Find Most Distant Oxygen in Universe

Jun 17, 2016 by Enrico de Lazaro

Astronomers using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) have found the most distant oxygen yet seen in the Universe, in a galaxy 13.1...

Researchers Discover New Type of Meteorite: Ost 65

Jun 16, 2016 by Enrico de Lazaro

A ‘fossil’ meteorite discovered in a limestone quarry in Sweden is unique and distinct from other known meteorites, according to a team of researchers...

Astronomers applaud the first detection of a chiral molecule, propylene oxide, in interstellar space. On Earth, propylene oxide is a common compound used in making polyurethane plastics. Image credit: B. Saxton / NRAO / AUI / NSF / N.E. Kassim, Naval Research Laboratory / Sloan Digital Sky Survey.

Chiral Molecule Detected in Interstellar Cloud Sagittarius B2

Jun 15, 2016 by Enrico de Lazaro

Astronomers using highly sensitive radio telescopes have detected, for the first time, a chiral molecule in interstellar space. Astronomers applaud the...

This view looks toward the sunlit side of Saturn’s rings from about 15 degrees above the ring plane. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / Space Science Institute.

Latest Cassini Image Shows Mini-Jet Trail in Saturn’s F Ring

Jun 14, 2016 by Enrico de Lazaro

A mysterious disruption in Saturn’s outermost F ring suggests it may have been disturbed recently, according to Cassini imaging scientists. This view...

The new compound emits a broadband spectrum of light upon excitation with an infrared laser. Image credit: Nils Wilhelm Rosemann.

New Compound Can Transform Infrared into Visible Light

Jun 10, 2016 by Enrico de Lazaro

A team of scientists in Germany has developed a compound that can transform infrared into warm, white-colored light. The new compound emits a broadband...

Location of Cape Espenberg. Image credit: Rand McNally.

Asian Metals were Traded in Alaska Centuries before Sustained Contact with Europeans

Jun 10, 2016 by Enrico de Lazaro

Two artifacts found at Cape Espenberg on the northern coast of the Seward Peninsula in Alaska are the first evidence that Asian metal alloys reached North...

This map shows the location of the ice-free corridor and Paleo-Indian sites. Image credit: Roblespepe / CC BY-SA 3.0.

Researchers: ‘Ice-Free Corridor’ along Rocky Mountains Opened Up 13,000 Years Ago

Jun 7, 2016 by Enrico de Lazaro

Evidence from bison fossils has enabled researchers to shape a more accurate timeline for the so-called ‘ice-free corridor’ — a route for Pleistocene...

An artist’s impression of the disc of material around Sagittarius A*. Image credit: L. Calçada / ESO.

New Computer Algorithm Could Produce First Black Hole Images

Jun 7, 2016 by Enrico de Lazaro

An MIT-led team of scientists has developed a new algorithm – named the CHIRP (Continuous High-resolution Image Reconstruction using Patch priors) —...

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