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Zhang et al used the leaves’, stems’, and roots’ extract of the willow-leaved justicia (Justicia gendarussa). Image credit: University of Illinois at Chicago.

Powerful Anti-HIV Compound Found in Asian Medicinal Plant: Patentiflorin A

Jun 16, 2017 by Enrico de Lazaro

The willow-leaved justicia (Justicia gendarussa), a medicinal plant found throughout Southeast Asia, contains a potent anti-HIV-1 compound more powerful...

Elon Musk’s Vision of Self-Sustaining Martian City, Manned Flights to Mars, Other Planets

Jun 15, 2017 by News Staff

An article entitled ‘Making Humans a Multi-Planetary Species’ presents the vision of Elon Musk, CEO of SpaceX, for future manned trips to Mars and...

A reconstruction of Progura gallinacea (right), alongside a kangaroo and modern bush turkey (Alectura lathami). Image credit: Elen Shute / Kim Benson / Tony Rodd / Aaron Camens.

Giant Flying Turkeys Lived in Australia 1-3 Million Years Ago

Jun 15, 2017 by News Staff

Progura gallinacea, a species of extinct giant brush turkey that lived in Australia during the Late Pliocene and Early Pleistocene (1-3 million years ago),...

The Suriname lowland forest cottontail (Sylvilagus parentum). Image credit: UOL / IUCN.

New Species of Cottontail Rabbit Identified: Sylvilagus parentum

Jun 14, 2017 by Enrico de Lazaro

A new species of cottontail rabbit (genus Sylvilagus) has been described from the lowlands of western Suriname by Portland State University Professor Luis...

Jupiter is the oldest planet in the Solar System. Image credit: NASA.

Jupiter is Solar System’s Oldest Planet, Planetary Researchers Say

Jun 12, 2017 by News Staff

The gas giant Jupiter is not only the most massive planet in our Solar System, but it’s also the oldest, according to an international team of planetary...

This illustration shows one possible scenario for the super-Earth HD 3167d. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech.

HD 3167d: New Super-Earth Discovered around Nearby Star

Jun 11, 2017 by Natali Anderson

Dr. Jessie Christiansen, a staff scientist at the NASA Exoplanet Science Institute, and colleagues have discovered a ‘super-Earth’ exoplanet orbiting...

The gilled mushroom Gondwanagaricites magnificus lived during the Early Cretaceous, a time of dinosaurs when Gondwana was breaking apart. Image credit: Heads et al, doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0178327.

Paleontologists Find Oldest Fossil Mushroom: Gondwanagaricites magnificus

Jun 9, 2017 by Natali Anderson

Gondwanagaricites magnificus represents the oldest fossil mushroom to date and the first fossil mushroom from the ancient supercontinent Gondwana. The...

This image shows a region of star formation where methyl isocyanate was found. The insert shows the molecular structure of this chemical. Image credit: L. Calcada / ESO / Digitized Sky Survey 2.

ALMA Detects Prebiotic Molecule in Multiple Protostar System

Jun 8, 2017 by News Staff

Astronomers have harnessed the power the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) in Chile to detect methyl isocyanate — a chemical building...

New Fossil Finds Push Back Origins of Homo sapiens by 115,000 Years

Jun 8, 2017 by News Staff

The fossilized remains of at least five individuals discovered at the archaeological site of Jebel Irhoud in Morocco have been dated at 315,000 years,...

The Humboldt’s flying squirrel (Glaucomys oregonensis), the third-known species of flying squirrel in North America and the 45th known species of flying squirrel in the world. Image credit: Nick Kerhoulas.

Cryptic New Species of Flying Squirrel Identified in North America

Jun 7, 2017 by News Staff

Scientists reporting in the Journal of Mammalogy on May 30 have identified a new species of flying squirrel living in the Pacific Coast region of North...

This Pluto mosaic was made from New Horizons LORRI images taken on July 14, 2015, from a distance of 49,700 miles (80,000 km). This view is projected from a point 1,118 miles (1,800 km) above Pluto’s equator, looking northeast over the dark, cratered Cthulhu Regio toward the bright, smooth expanse of icy plains called Sputnik Planum. Pluto’s North Pole is off the image to the left. This mosaic was produced with panchromatic images from the New Horizons LORRI camera, with color overlaid from the Ralph color mapper onboard New Horizons. Image credit: S.A. Stern et al.

Could Pluto’s Orbital Wobbles Create Its Mysterious Glacial Crazy-Paving?

Jun 6, 2017 by James Romero

Strange fields of polygons seen during New Horizons’ visit to Pluto could be explained by million year variations in the dwarf planet’s orbit caused...

KELT-9b: Newly-Discovered ‘Hot Jupiter’ Hotter Than Most Stars

Jun 6, 2017 by News Staff

A newly-discovered Jupiter-like exoplanet called KELT-9b is only 2,000 degrees Fahrenheit (927 degrees Celsius, or 1,200 degrees Kelvin) cooler than our...

This series of dots with varying distances between them shows the slow dance of two members of the brown-dwarf binary system Luhman 16AB. The image is a stack of 12 images made over the course of three years with Hubble. Image credit: NASA / ESA / Hubble / L. Bedin et al.

Hubble Observes Graceful Dance of Luhman 16AB Brown Dwarfs

Jun 5, 2017 by Natali Anderson

Astronomers have used the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope to track the two components of Luhman 16AB, the third closest system to the Solar System. This...

LIGO’s gravitational wave detections. Image credit: LIGO Scientific Collaboration / ARC Centre of Excellence for Gravitational Wave Discovery.

Scientists Detect Gravitational Waves for Third Time

Jun 2, 2017 by News Staff

Scientists from the LIGO Scientific Collaboration and the Virgo Collaboration have made a third detection of gravitational waves, ripples in the fabric...

In this illustration, an ultra-intense X-ray laser pulse from SLAC’s Linac Coherent Light Source knocks so many electrons out of a molecule’s iodine atom (right) that the iodine starts pulling in electrons from the rest of the molecule (lower left), like an electromagnetic version of a black hole. Many of the stolen electrons are also knocked out by the laser pulse; then the molecule explodes. Image credit: DESY / Science Communication Lab.

Researchers Create Molecular Version of Black Hole

Jun 2, 2017 by News Staff

When a team of physicists focused the full intensity of SLAC’s Linac Coherent Light Source (LCLS) Coherent X-ray Imaging instrument — the world’s...

Chimpanzees share the human capacity to build on the knowledge of others. Image credit: Marcel Langthim.

Chimpanzees Show ‘Cumulative Culture’

Jun 1, 2017 by News Staff

Chimpanzees share our human ability to amass knowledge, a new study led by a University of St Andrews researcher has found. Chimpanzees share the human...

This artist’s concept depicts a super-Earth-size exoplanet. Image credit: NASA Ames / JPL-Caltech / T. Pyle.

Gliese 625b: Potentially Habitable Super-Earth Spotted 21 Light-Years Away

Jun 1, 2017 by Sergio Prostak

Astronomers have discovered a super-Earth exoplanet orbiting the red dwarf star Gliese 625. This artist’s concept depicts a super-Earth-size exoplanet....

Ringed Gas Giant Discovered Orbiting Young Star PDS 110

May 31, 2017 by Natali Anderson

Astronomers have identified that the light from PDS 110 is regularly blocked by a large object — and they predict that these eclipses are caused...

This digitally-colorized scanning electron microscopic image depicts Enterococcus faecalis. Image credit: Pete Wardell / CDC.

Modified Version of Vancomycin Could Fight Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria

May 31, 2017 by News Staff

A team of researchers at the Scripps Research Institute has structurally modified vancomycin to make an already-powerful version of the antibiotic even...