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

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.
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 on board the spacecraft — to estimate the amount of water ice that is present on the surface of the dwarf planet Pluto. 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...

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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...

Canadian Eskimo dogs. Illustration by John James Audubon and John Bachman (1845-1848).

Study: Domestication of Dogs May Have Caused Harmful Genetic Changes

Jan 12, 2016 by News Staff

According to a study published last week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, dog domestication may have caused harmful genetic changes. Canadian...

Eta Carinae’s great eruption in the 1840s created the billowing Homunculus Nebula, imaged here by the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope. Image credit: NASA / ESA / Hubble SM4 ERO Team.

Astronomers Find Five Supergiant Stars Far Beyond Milky Way Galaxy

Jan 11, 2016 by News Staff

Using the NASA/ESA Hubble and NASA’s Spitzer space telescopes, astronomers have discovered five very luminous and massive stellar systems in the star-forming...

Geologic map of Alaska. Image credit: U.S. Geological Survey / U.S. Department of the Interior.

USGS Researchers Reveal First-Ever Digital Geologic Map of Alaska

Jan 8, 2016 by Natali Anderson

Scientists from the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) have released a new geologic map of Alaska. Geologic map of Alaska, part 1: generalized geologic map...

The Sichuan bush warbler (Locustella chengi), Laojun Shan, China. Image credit: Per Alström et al.

Top New Bird Discoveries of 2015

Jan 5, 2016 by Natali Anderson

A small warbler from China, a cryptic species of owl from the Middle East, and a tiny tapaculo from South America are just three of the incredible bird...

The CSU team has successfully produced a completely recyclable, biodegradable polymer. Image credit: Colorado State University.

Chemists Develop Fully Recyclable Polymer

Jan 2, 2016 by News Staff

A team of scientists at Colorado State University (CSU) has successfully produced a completely recyclable, biodegradable polymer. A graphical illustration...

A New Caledonian crow (Corvus moneduloides). Image credit: Jolyon Troscianko.

New Caledonian Crows Caught on Camera Making Hooked Stick Tools

Dec 28, 2015 by Enrico de Lazaro

A team of scientists from the United Kingdom has captured first video recordings documenting how New Caledonian crows (Corvus moneduloides) make ‘hooked...

Text of Cairo Calendar page rto VIII; inside the superimposed rectangle is the hieratic writing for the word Horus. A passage in this document dates it to the reign of Ramses II in the Nineteenth Dynasty. Image credit: Jetsu L. / Porceddu S., doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0144140.s001.

3,200-Year-Old Papyrus Contains Astrophysical Information about Variable Star Algol

Dec 23, 2015 by Sergio Prostak

Ancient Egyptians wrote Calendars of Lucky and Unlucky Days that assigned astronomically influenced prognoses for each day of the year. The best preserved...

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