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Five-Planet System Found: K2-138

Jan 16, 2018 by News Staff

An international team of citizen scientists and professional astronomers has discovered a system of at least five massive exoplanets, orbiting the Sun-like...

This image of the Orion Nebula was obtained from multiple exposures using VLT’s HAWK-I infrared camera. This is the deepest view ever of this region and reveals more very faint planetary-mass objects than expected. Image credit: H. Drass et al / ESO.

Spitzer and Hubble Telescopes Provide 3D Journey through Magnificent Orion Nebula

Jan 15, 2018 by News Staff

By combining the visible and infrared capabilities of NASA’s Spitzer and NASA/ESA Hubble space telescopes, a team of specialists at NASA’s Universe...

This high-resolution HiRISE image shows a detailed subsection of an icy scarp on Mars in enhanced color. Image credit: NASA / JPL / University of Arizona / USGS.

New HiRISE Images Show 3D Structure of Martian Ice Sheets

Jan 12, 2018 by News Staff

New images from the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera on NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter reveal never-before-observed details...

This Hubble image shows the Orion Nebula. Image credit: NASA / ESA / M. Robberto, Space Telescope Science Institute & ESA / Hubble Space Telescope Orion Treasury Project Team.

Hubble Finds Three Giant Exoplanets and Several Brown Dwarfs in Orion Nebula

Jan 12, 2018 by News Staff

Using the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope to peer deep into the famous Orion Nebula, Space Telescope Institute researcher Massimo Robberto and colleagues...

A salt crystal recovered from the Zag meteorite. Image credit: Queenie Chan, Open University.

Scientists Find Primordial Organic Matter in Two Meteorites

Jan 11, 2018 by News Staff

A team of researchers from the United States, UK and Japan has found liquid water and a mix of complex organic compounds in 4.5-billion-year-old salt crystals...

An artist’s impression of the New Zealand greater short-tailed, or burrowing, bat (Mystacina robusta) that went extinct last century. Vulcanops jennyworthyae is the biggest burrowing bat yet known. It also represents the first new bat genus to be added to New Zealand's fauna in more than 150 years. Image credit: Gavin Mouldey.

Fossils Reveal Giant New Species of Burrowing Bat: Vulcanops jennyworthyae

Jan 11, 2018 by News Staff

Paleontologists say they’ve found the fossilized remains of a new genus and species of bat that lived in New Zealand between 19 and 16 million years...

The globally distributed dishes of the European VLBI Network are linked with each other and the 305-m William E. Gordon Telescope at the Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico. Together they have localized FRB121102’s exact position within its host galaxy. Image credit: Danielle Futselaar, www.artsource.nl.

Fast Radio Burst Source Linked to Extreme Magnetic Environment

Jan 11, 2018 by News Staff

Using the Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico and the Green Bank Telescope in West Virginia, astronomers have gained new insight into the extreme home of...

Artist’s impression of a galaxy in the early Universe. Image credit: Amanda Smith, University of Cambridge.

ALMA Detects ‘Whirlpool’ Movement in Two Early Galaxies

Jan 10, 2018 by News Staff

Astronomers using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) in Chile have spotted swirling gas in some of the Universe’s earliest galaxies. Artist’s...

There are many ways alcohol may cause cancer including directly damaging DNA, increasing levels of certain hormones and damaging the liver. Image credit: Laura M.

Research Shows How Alcohol Damages Stem Cell DNA

Jan 10, 2018 by News Staff

A team of researchers from the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology and the University of Cambridge, UK, has shown...

Leigh et al investigated the digestive function of bonnethead sharks in order to determine whether they can digest and assimilate nutrients from seagrass. Image credit: Mills Baker / CC BY 2.0.

Bonnethead Sharks Consume and Digest Seagrass

Jan 9, 2018 by News Staff

A small coastal shark called the bonnethead shark (Sphyrna tiburo) eats copious amounts of seagrass (Thalassia testudinum) and has adaptations in its digestive...

This illustration depicts Juno soaring over Jupiter’s swirling cloud tops. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / SwRI / MSSS / Kevin M. Gill.

NASA’s Juno Orbiter Delivers Spectacular New Photos of Jupiter

Jan 8, 2018 by Enrico de Lazaro

NASA has released beautiful new images of Jupiter’s turbulent atmosphere from the tenth close flyby of its Juno spacecraft. This illustration depicts...

Easter Island, known as Rapa Nui to its earliest inhabitants, is one of the most remote inhabited islands in the world. Image credit: Yerson Retamal.

Study: Easter Island Had Supportive and Inclusive Community

Jan 8, 2018 by News Staff

An analysis of so-called pukao — colossal stone hats of monumental statues (moai) on Easter Island — provides evidence contrary to the widely...

This Hubble image shows part of 30 Doradus, home to the most massive stars in our cosmic neighborhood of about 25 galaxies. Image credit: NASA / ESA / D. Lennon and E. Sabbi (ESA / STScI) / J. Anderson, S. E. de Mink, R. van der Marel, T. Sohn, and N. Walborn (STScI) / N. Bastian (Excellence Cluster, Munich) / L. Bedin (INAF, Padua) / E. Bressert (ESO) / P. Crowther (University of Sheffield) / A. de Koter (University of Amsterdam) / C. Evans (UKATC / STFC, Edinburgh) / A. Herrero (IAC, Tenerife), N. Langer (AifA, Bonn), I. Platais (JHU), and H. Sana (University of Amsterdam).

Massive Stars are More Abundant than Thought

Jan 5, 2018 by News Staff

Observations of 30 Doradus, a star-forming region in a nearby galaxy called Large Magellanic Cloud, reveal that massive stars are more prevalent than models...

A scientific illustration of the Upward Sun River camp in what is now Interior Alaska. Image credit: Eric S. Carlson / Ben A. Potter.

Ancient Beringians: 11,500-Year-Old Genome Reveals Previously Unknown Native American Population

Jan 4, 2018 by News Staff

Genetic analysis of DNA from a female infant found at the Upward Sun River archaeological site in Alaska has revealed a previously unknown Native American...

‘Alien Megastructure’ Not the Cause of KIC 8462852’s Dimming

Jan 4, 2018 by News Staff

Astronomers are one step closer to solving the mystery behind KIC 8462852, a main-sequence F-type star located in the constellation Cygnus, about 1,480...

Supermassive black holes at the cores of galaxies blast radiation and ultra-fast winds outward, as illustrated in this artist’s conception. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech.

Central Black Holes Control Star Formation in Massive Galaxies: Study

Jan 2, 2018 by News Staff

Supermassive black holes, with masses more than a million times that of the Sun, reside at the centers of all massive galaxies. A new study published in...

Alzheimer’s disease is a progressive neurodegenerative disease, characterized clinically by progressive memory loss, cognitive decline, and aberrant behavior. In Alzheimer’s, changes in tau protein lead to the disintegration of microtubules in brain cells. Image credit: Alzheimer’s Disease Education and Referral Center / National Institute on Aging.

New Diabetes Drug Shows Promise against Alzheimer’s Disease

Jan 1, 2018 by News Staff

A ‘triple receptor’ drug originally created to treat type 2 diabetes could be used to treat Alzheimer’s disease after researchers from China and...

This image, captured by Hubble’s Wide Field Camera 3, shows the megamaser galaxy UGC 6093. Image credit: NASA / ESA / Hubble.

Hubble Space Telescope Spots Megamaser Galaxy: UGC 6093

Jan 1, 2018 by News Staff

The NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope has taken a picture of the galaxy UGC 6093. This image, captured by Hubble’s Wide Field Camera 3, shows the megamaser...

Saturn’s Great Northern Storm churning through the atmosphere in the planet’s northern hemisphere overtakes itself as it encircles the planet in this true-color view from NASA’s Cassini spacecraft. This picture, captured on February 25, 2011, was taken about 12 weeks after the storm began, and the clouds by this time had formed a tail that wrapped around the gas giant. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / Space Science Institute.

Saturn’s Northern Storms Cause Disturbances in Its ‘Heartbeat’

Dec 31, 2017 by News Staff

Giant storms in Saturn’s northern hemisphere can disturb atmospheric patterns at the ringed giant’s equator, according to new research published in...