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Cyanobacteria. Image credit: Josef Reischig / CC BY-SA 3.0.

Cyanobacteria ‘See’ Like Microscopic Eyeballs, New Study Finds

Feb 9, 2016 by Natali Anderson

According to a study published in the journal eLife, cyanobacteria cells act as spherical microlenses, allowing the cell to see a light source and move...

Artist’s reconstruction of Rhinconichthys sp. Image credit: Robert Nicholls.

Fossils Reveal Two New Species of Cretaceous Big-Mouthed Fish

Feb 9, 2016 by Enrico de Lazaro

A group of paleontologists from the United States, the UK and China has discovered two new suspension-feeding species of the bony fish genus Rhinconichthys. Artist’s...

An artist’s interpretation of Rusingoryx atopocranion on the Late Pleistocene plains of what is now Rusinga Island, Lake Victoria. Image credit: Todd S. Marshall, www.marshalls-art.com.

Pleistocene Mammal Rusingoryx atopocranion Had Dinosaur-Like ‘Nose’

Feb 5, 2016 by News Staff

Rusingoryx atopocranion — a little-known wildebeest-like bovid that lived in equatorial East Africa 100,000 – 50,000 years ago (late Pleistocene)...

Kinyongia msuyae. Image credit: Tim Davenport / WCS.

Kinyongia msuyae: New Species of Chameleon Found in Tanzania

Feb 4, 2016 by Natali Anderson

A team of scientists led by Dr. Michele Menegon of the Museo delle Scienze in Trento, Italy, has described a previously undocumented species of chameleon...

Fresco on the wall of an early Christian church in an ancient underground city near Nevsehir, Cappadocia, Turkey. Image credit: Nevsehir Castle Urban Transformation Project / Nevsehir Municipality / Turkey’s Housing Development Administration.

Early Christian Church Found in Turkey

Feb 4, 2016 by Enrico de Lazaro

A team of Turkish archaeologists have found an early Christian church in an ancient underground settlement near modern-day Nevsehir, the capital district...

The smallest lattice in the world: its struts and braces are 0.2 µm in diameter; total size of the lattice is about 10 µm. Image credit: Jens Bauer / Karlsruhe Institute of Technology.

Researchers Create Smallest Ever Lattice Structure

Feb 2, 2016 by Enrico de Lazaro

A team of scientists at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Germany, has created a glassy carbon nanolattice with single struts shorter than 1 μm...

LEISA data point to more prevalent water ice on the surface of Pluto than previously thought. Image credit: NASA / Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory / Southwest Research Institute.

Relatively Large Amounts of Water Ice Found on Pluto’s Surface

Feb 2, 2016 by News Staff

NASA’s New Horizons science team used data from the Ralph/Linear Etalon Imaging Spectral Array (LEISA) — a short-wavelength, IR, spectral imager...

BM 34757, one of the Babylonian cuneiform tablets translated by Prof. Ossendrijver. Image credit: Mathieu Ossendrijver, Humboldt University / British Museum.

Babylonian Astronomers Used Geometry to Calculate Jupiter’s Position

Jan 29, 2016 by Enrico de Lazaro

According to Prof. Mathieu Ossendrijver of Humboldt University in Germany, Babylonian astronomers used geometry to calculate the position of Jupiter —...

White-cheeked macaques (Macaca leucogenys), juveniles of different age. Image credit: Cheng Li et al.

Top 20 New Species Discovered in 2015

Jan 28, 2016 by Natali Anderson

A shape-shifting frog from Ecuador, a giant virus from Siberia, a bioluminescent shark, a ruby seadragon, and the world’s smallest snail are among the...

Leopard cat (Prionailurus bengalensis). Tambako The Jaguar / CC BY-ND 2.0.

Ancient Chinese Domesticated Leopard Cats 5,500 Years Ago

Jan 27, 2016 by Enrico de Lazaro

The 5,500 year old cat remains found more than a decade ago in China have been identified as the leopard cat (Prionailurus bengalensis) by an international...

Secretary bird Madeleine attacks his prey. Image credit: Jason Shallcross.

Study: Secretary Birds Stamp on Their Prey with Force 5 Times Their Weight

Jan 26, 2016 by Natali Anderson

According to a new study published this week in the journal Current Biology, Secretary birds can kick with 195 Newtons, which is equivalent to about 5...

The Venus flytrap (Dionaea muscipula). Image credit: Citron / CC-BY-SA-3.0.

Biologists: Carnivorous Venus Flytraps Can Count

Jan 25, 2016 by News Staff

Carnivorous plants, such as the Venus flytrap (Dionaea muscipula), depend on an animal diet when grown in nutrient-poor soils. They sense the arrival of...

Planet Nine: Astronomers Uncover Evidence for mini-Neptune in Outer Solar System

Jan 21, 2016 by News Staff

A team of astronomers at the California Institute of Technology has found strong evidence of a massive gaseous planet – informally named Planet Nine...

The Himalayan forest thrush (Zoothera salimalii). Image credit: Craig Belsford.

Himalayan Forest Thrush: Scientists Discover New Species of Bird

Jan 20, 2016 by News Staff

A group of scientists led by Dr. Per Alström of Uppsala University has described a new species of bird from the northeastern India and adjacent parts...

This picture of elusive bush dogs was taken by a camera trap in the wet tropical forest of Pirre, Panama. Image credit: GEMAS Panamá / Fundación Natura / Fondo Darién / Fundación Yaguará Panamá / Southern Illinois University.

Camera Traps ‘Capture’ Elusive Bush Dogs in Panama

Jan 20, 2016 by Natali Anderson

Motion-sensitive cameras placed at several sites in Panama have captured images of the bush dog (Speothos venaticus), one of the most enigmatic of the...

Visualization of the structure of the created quantum knot: each colorful band represents a set of nearby directions of the quantum field that is knotted; note that each band is twisted and linked with the others once; untying the knot requires the bands to separate, which is not possible without breaking them. Image credit: David Hall.

Physicists Create Quantum Knots for the First Time

Jan 18, 2016 by Enrico de Lazaro

In a breakthrough discovery detailed in a paper in the journal Nature Physics, a team of physicists from Finland and the United States has found a way...

ASASSN-15lh: Astronomers Discover Most Luminous Supernova Ever Seen

Jan 15, 2016 by News Staff

A large international team of astronomers has spotted an extremely luminous supernova in a massive galaxy 3.82 billion light-years away. An artist’s...

Princess Elizabeth Land, East Antarctica. Image credit: Durham University.

World’s Largest Canyon System May Lie under Antarctic Ice Sheet

Jan 14, 2016 by Enrico de Lazaro

According to an analysis of satellite data published last month in the journal Geology, the world’s largest canyon system and a large lake may lie under...

Cambridge Archaeological Unit scientists have unearthed the charred wooden roof structure of a 3,000-year-old round house. Image credit: Cambridge Archaeological Unit.

Archaeologists Uncover Best-Preserved Bronze Age Dwellings Ever Found in Britain

Jan 13, 2016 by Natali Anderson

A group of archaeologists from the University of Cambridge’s Archaeological Unit (CAU) has unearthed well-preserved Bronze Age dwellings during an excavation...