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This artist’s impression shows a supermassive black hole consuming a star that has been torn apart by the black hole’s gravity; as a result of this ‘meal’ the black hole begins to launch a powerful jet that astronomers can detect with radio telescopes. Image credit: NASA / Goddard Space Flight Center / Swift.

Astronomers Spot Unusual Jet from Supermassive Black Hole in PGC 43234

Nov 26, 2015 by Natali Anderson

A group of scientists, led by Dr Sjoert van Velzen of Johns Hopkins University, has observed a new way for plasma to escape the gravitational pull of a...

In this image from ESO’s Very Large Telescope (VLT) the red hypergiant star VY Canis Majoris is hidden behind an obscuring disc; the crosses are artifacts due to features in VLT’s SPHERE instrument. Image credit: ESO.

Hypergiant Star Caught in Act of Slimming Down

Nov 25, 2015 by Sergio Prostak

New observations from the Very Large Telescope at ESO’s Paranal Observatory in Chile show how enormous size of dust particles surrounding the hypergiant...

Mars May Get Ring System in 20 – 40 Million Years

Nov 24, 2015 by Natali Anderson

In 20 to 40 million years, Phobos – the larger of the two Martian moons – will break apart and form a ring system around Mars, according to...

Close-up image of the shell of the West Indian fuzzy chiton (Acanthopleura granulata) shows the two kinds of sensory organs that cover the shell surface: the eyes are the dark bumps with shiny centers; the exact function of other sensory organs called aesthetes - small bumps with black centers - is not yet known. Image credit: Ling Li et al.

Chitons See with Ceramic Eyes, New Research Shows

Nov 23, 2015 by Enrico de Lazaro

Marine biologists have long known that armored mollusks called chitons have hundreds of small eyes dotting the surface of their hard turtlelike shells....

Male specimen of Iandumoema smeagol foraging in its natural habitat. Image credit: Ricardo Pinto-da-Rocha et al.

Iandumoema smeagol: New Eyeless Harvestman Species Found in Brazil

Nov 20, 2015 by Sergio Prostak

A team of Brazilian arachnologists has described a new species of cave-dwelling harvestman in the genus Iandumoema, bringing the total number of species...

Paleontologists Unearth Tropical Fossil Forests in Norway

Nov 19, 2015 by Natali Anderson

A team of UK paleontologists has unearthed three 380-million-year-old fossil forests in Svalbard, an archipelago administered by Norway and located far...

This artistic rendering depicts an Earth-like exoplanet orbiting an evolved star that has formed a stunning planetary nebula; earlier in its life, this planet may have been like one of the eight newly discovered worlds orbiting in the habitable zones of their stars. Image credit: David A. Aguilar / CfA.

Kepler-438b: Red Dwarf May Have Stripped Away Atmosphere of Earth-Like Exoplanet

Nov 18, 2015 by Sergio Prostak

The atmosphere of Kepler-438b is thought to have been stripped away as a result of radiation emitted from the planet’s violent parent star, says a team...

Hunter-gatherers. Image credit: T.P.S. Dave.

Scientists Discover New Strand of European Hunter-Gatherer Ancestry

Nov 17, 2015 by News Staff

An international group of researchers has sequenced the genomes of Late Upper Paleolithic (13,300 years old) and Mesolithic (9,700 years old) males from...

Messier 87 is the dominant galaxy at the center of the neighboring Virgo cluster of galaxies. Image credit: NASA / ESA / Hubble Heritage Team.

Astronomers Detect Stellar Pulsations in Messier 87

Nov 16, 2015 by Natali Anderson

A team of astronomers has measured the ‘heartbeats’ of stars within Messier 87, a giant elliptical galaxy located some 53 million light-years from...

In this artist’s conception GJ 1132b circles a red dwarf star. Image credit: Dana Berry.

GJ 1132b: Astronomers Discover Earth-Sized Exoplanet 39 Light-Years Away

Nov 12, 2015 by News Staff

A team of astronomers has discovered a new rocky, Earth-sized exoplanet orbiting a star approximately 39 light-years away. In this artist’s conception...

Phobos is Slowly Being Torn Apart by Mars

Nov 11, 2015 by News Staff

Phobos, the larger and inner of the two natural satellites of Mars, is slowly being pulled apart by tidal forces and is expected to break up within the...

This high-resolution image of Pluto was taken by New Horizons on July 14, 2015: yellow circle shows location of Wright Mons and Piccard Mons mountains on the dwarf planet. Image credit: NASA / Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory / Southwest Research Institute.

New Horizons Geologists Spot Possible Cryovolcanoes on Pluto

Nov 10, 2015 by Natali Anderson

Using images of Pluto’s surface, geologists with the New Horizons mission have discovered that two of dwarf planet’s mountains could be cryovolcanoes...

A solar storm approaches Mars. Image credit: NASA Goddard Space Flight Center.

NASA’s MAVEN Team: Solar Storms Stripped Away Mars’ Atmosphere

Nov 6, 2015 by News Staff

Thanks to NASA’s Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution (MAVEN) orbiter, scientists have learned more about what happened to the Martian climate since...

Life restoration of Dakotaraptor steini running with the sparrow-sized birds Cimolopteryx petra, while the mammal Purgatorius can be seen in the foreground. Image credit: Emily Willoughby.

Dakotaraptor steini: Giant, Feathered Dromaeosaurid Dinosaur Discovered in South Dakota

Nov 5, 2015 by Sergio Prostak

Paleontologists have discovered what they say is a new giant raptor that lived in what is now South Dakota during the Maastrichtian stage of the Upper...

This is an artist’s impression of PSO J318.5-22. Image credit: MPIA / V. Ch. Quetz.

Astronomers Create Weather Map of Rogue Planet-Like Object

Nov 4, 2015 by Natali Anderson

Astronomers have detected layers of clouds – made up of hot dust and droplets of molten iron – on a planet-like object known as PSO J318.5338–22.8603...

Pineapple (Ananas comosus), on sale on Reunion Island. Image credit: David Monniaux / CC BY-SA 3.0.

Researchers Sequence Pineapple Genome

Nov 3, 2015 by News Staff

A multinational team of scientists has sequenced genomes of a wild pineapple relative, the red pineapple (Ananas bracteatus), and two cultivated varieties...

Acmella nana, a new species in the genus Acmella, the world’s tiniest snail. Image credit: VermeuleMany of the new snails were discovered by sieving soil; in some areas, a few litres of soil can yield thousands of micro-snail shells, most, such as these from Peninsular Malaysia, measuring just one or two millimeters. Image credit: Reuben Clements / Rimba.n JJ et al.

World’s Smallest Snail Found: Acmella nana

Nov 3, 2015 by News Staff

A tiny snail shell with a diameter of 0.028 inches (0.7 mm) was found on the Malaysian portion of the island of Borneo by a group of scientists from the...

Francis’ Woolly Horseshoe Bat: New Species of Bat Discovered

Nov 2, 2015 by News Staff

A new species of woolly horseshoe bat has been described from Sabah, Malaysian Borneo. The Francis’ woolly horseshoe bat (Rhinolophus francisi). Image...

This image of 2015 TB145 was generated using radar data collected by the Arecibo Observatory. Image credit: NAIC-Arecibo / NSF.

2015 TB145: Astronomers Capture Radar Images of ‘Halloween Asteroid’

Nov 1, 2015 by News Staff

Astronomers using NSF’s 1,000-foot (305-m) Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico have captured images of a massive asteroid – designated 2015 TB145...