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Researchers Sequence Mitochondrial Genome of Glyptodont

This is an illustrated rendition of two male glyptodonts (Doedicurus clavicaudatus); massive, club-shaped tails were probably used more for intraspecific combat than defense against predators. Image credit: Peter Schouten.
Feb 23, 2016 by Natali Anderson

An international group of scientists has successfully sequenced the whole mitochondrial genome of the ancient glyptodont – a heavily armored herbivorous mammal that went extinct in the Americas at the end of the last Ice Age. This is an illustrated rendition of two male glyptodonts (Doedicurus clavicaudatus); massive, club-shaped tails were probably used more for intraspecific combat than defense against predators. Image credit: Peter Schouten. Glyptodont...

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The Iberian grass snake (Natrix astreptophora). Image credit: Wolfgang Böhme.

Iberian Grass Snake: Cryptic New Species of Snake Identified

Feb 23, 2016 by Enrico de Lazaro

An international team of scientists from Czech Republic, France and Germany has identified a cryptic new species of grass snake living in the North African...

Illustration of the super-Jupiter 2M1207b. Image credit: NASA / ESA / G. Bacon, STScI / Y. Zhou, University of Arizona.

Astronomers Measure Rotation of Cloudy Super-Jupiter

Feb 19, 2016 by Natali Anderson

Using the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope, scientists have discovered that a giant extrasolar planet called 2MASSWJ 1207334-393254b has patchy clouds and...

Denisovans were probably dark-skinned, unlike the pale Neandertals. The picture shows a Neanderthal man. Image credit: Mauro Cutrona.

Scientists: Neanderthals Mated with Humans 100,000 Years Ago

Feb 17, 2016 by News Staff

A multinational group of researchers has found strong genetic evidence of an interbreeding event between Neanderthals and anatomically modern Homo sapiens...

An artist’s impression of the exoplanet 55 Cancri e. According to Tsiaras and co-authors, the atmosphere of this planet consists mainly of hydrogen and helium. Image credit: NASA / ESA / Hubble Space Telescope.

Astronomers Analyze Atmosphere of Super-Earth Exoplanet 55 Cancri e

Feb 17, 2016 by Enrico de Lazaro

Using the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope, European astronomers have been able to examine the atmosphere of the extrasolar planet 55 Cancri e in unprecedented...

An illustration of the ice XVII’s molecular configuration. Image credit: Yingying Huang / Chongqin Zhu.

Ice XVII: Chemists Predict Existence of New Form of Ice

Feb 15, 2016 by News Staff

An international team of scientists, led by Xiao Cheng Zeng from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and Jijun Zhao from the Dalian University of Technology,...

The collision of two black holes is seen in this still from a computer simulation. Image credit: SXS.

Physicists Detect Gravitational Waves

Feb 11, 2016 by News Staff

For the first time, physicists have observed ‘ripples’ in the fabric of space-time called gravitational waves. The collision of two black holes is...

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...

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