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This image, taken by the SHARK-VIS camera on the Large Binocular Telescope on January 10, 2024, is the highest resolution image of Io ever obtained by an Earth-based telescope. The image combines three spectral bands -- infrared, red and green -- to highlight the reddish ring around the volcano Pele (below and to the right of the moon’s center) and the white ring around Pillan Patera, to the right of Pele. Image credit: INAF / Large Binocular Telescope Observatory / Georgia State University / SHARK-VIS@LBT / P.I.F. Pedichini / D. Hope / S. Jefferies / G. Li Causi.

Large Binocular Telescope Spots Volcanic Event on Jupiter’s Moon Io

Jun 3, 2024 by News Staff

Using the SHARK-VIS instrument on the Large Binocular Telescope on Mount Graham in Arizona, the United States, astronomers have captured the highest resolution...

The illustration portrays a reconstruction of Genyornis newtoni at the water’s edge in a wetland or swamp-like environment. The scene itself was inspired by locations that exist in southern South Australia today, such as Ngarrindjeri country in and around the Coorong and lower Murray River. However, back when Genyornis newtoni was kicking about, this type of environment would have been more widespread across the country. Many Genyornis fossils are recovered from Lake Callabonna which is more than a day’s drive north of there and is a dry salt lake nowadays. Back in the day this would have been much wetter place. Image credit: Jacob C. Blokland.

Well-Preserved Skull Fossil of Extinct Giant Bird Found in Australia

Jun 3, 2024 by News Staff

Paleontologists in Australia have unearthed the fossilized skull of Genyornis newtoni, a species of giant flightless ‘mihirung’ that became extinct...

Tmesipteris oblanceolata. Image credit: Pol Fernández.

New Caledonian Fern Species Has Largest Genome of Any Living Organism

Jun 3, 2024 by News Staff

Tmesipteris oblanceolata — a rare species of fork fern found on the island nation of New Caledonia, an overseas French territory situated in the...

An artist’s impression of Musankwa sanyatiensis, walking in Triassic shallow waters past a metoposaur. Image credit: Atashni Moopen / Sci.News.

New Sauropodomorph Dinosaur Unearthed in Zimbabwe

May 30, 2024 by Enrico de Lazaro

A new genus and species of massopodan sauropodomorph dinosaur has been identified form the fossilized remains found on the shoreline of Lake Kariba, Zimbabwe. An...

An artist’s impression of HD 26965b and its star. Image credit: Sci-News.com.

Spock’s Home Planet Probably Doesn’t Exist, New Study Argues

May 28, 2024 by Enrico de Lazaro

The radial velocity signal from the exoplanet candidate orbiting the star HD 26965 (40 Eridani A) — host to Mr. Spock’s fictional home planet,...

Six monotremes living in the same place at the same time, 100 million years ago at Lightning Ridge, New South Wales, Australia; clockwise from lower left: Opalios splendens; Stirtodon elizabethae, the largest monotreme of the time; Kollikodon ritchiei, with hot-cross-bun shaped molars; Steropodon galmani, now known from additional opalized fossils; Parvopalus clytiei, the smallest monotreme of the time; and Dharragarra aurora, the earliest known species of platypus. Image credit: Peter Schouten.

Three New Species of Fossil Monotremes Found in Australia

May 26, 2024 by News Staff

The three newly-identified species show combinations of features not previously seen before in other living or fossil monotremes, according to Professor...

An artist’s impression of Gliese 12b and its host star. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / R. Hurt, Caltech-IPAC.

Potentially Habitable Earth-Sized Exoplanet Discovered around Gliese 12

May 23, 2024 by News Staff

Using NASA’s Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) and many other telescopes, two teams of astronomers have discovered a temperate, Earth-sized...

Koleken inakayali. Image credit: Gabriel Díaz Yantén.

Fossils from New Species of Carnivorous Dinosaur Discovered in Argentina

May 22, 2024 by Enrico de Lazaro

A new genus and species of furileusaurian abelisaurid that lived during the Cretaceous period has been identified from fossilized skeletal remains found...

The water course of the ancient Ahramat Branch of the Nile. Image credit: Ghoneim et al., doi: 10.1038/s43247-024-01379-7.

Majority of Egyptian Pyramids Was Built along Long-Lost Branch of Nile, Archaeologists Say

May 21, 2024 by News Staff

Archaeologists in Egypt have identified segments of a 64-km-long extinct branch of the river Nile, which they name the Ahramat Branch, running at the foothills...

This artist’s concept shows what the exoplanet WASP-107b could look like based on recent data gathered by the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope along with previous observations from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope and other observatories. Image credit: NASA / ESA / CSA / Ralf Crawford, STScI.

Why is Cotton-Candy Exoplanet WASP-107b So Puffy?

May 20, 2024 by News Staff

A surprisingly low amount of methane and a super-sized core hide within WASP-107b, a super-Neptune exoplanet approximately 212 light-years away in the...

This artist’s impression shows a dromaeosaur, a type of feathered theropod, in the snow. Image credit: Davide Bonadonna / Universidade de Vigo / UCL.

Study: Warm-Bloodedness in Theropod and Ornithischian Dinosaurs Evolved by Early Jurassic

May 16, 2024 by News Staff

A fundamental question in dinosaur evolution is how they adapted to long-term climatic shifts during the Mesozoic Era (the dinosaur era lasting from 230...

An artist’s concept of SPECULOOS-3b and its host star. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech.

Earth-Sized Exoplanet Found Orbiting Nearby Ultracool Red Dwarf

May 15, 2024 by Natali Anderson

Ultracool dwarf stars are widespread in the solar neighborhood. Nevertheless, their extremely low brightness has left their planetary population largely...

An artist’s impression of Chakisaurus nekul. Image credit: Sci.News / UnexpectedDinoLesson / CC BY 4.0 Deed.

Paleontologists Discover New Species of Ornithopod Dinosaur in Argentina

May 14, 2024 by Enrico de Lazaro

A paper published earlier this month in the journal Cretaceous Research announces the discovery of a previously undocumented genus and species of medium-sized...

An artist’s impression of a hot-Jupiter exoplanet. Image credit: Sci-News.com.

Astronomers Discover New Cotton-Candy Exoplanet: WASP-193b

May 14, 2024 by News Staff

Gas giant exoplanets around bright nearby stars provide crucial insights into planetary system formation and evolution mechanisms. Most of these planets...

The southern giant hummingbird (Patagona gigas). Image credit: Chris Witt.

South America’s Giant Hummingbird is Actually Two Species

May 13, 2024 by News Staff

The northern population of the giant hummingbird (Patagona gigas) stays in the high Andes year-round while the southern population migrates from sea level...

An artist’s impression of 55 Cancri e. Image credit: NASA / ESA / CSA / R. Crawford, STScI.

Webb Detects Secondary Atmosphere on 55 Cancri e

May 8, 2024 by News Staff

Gas bubbling up from a lava-covered surface on the super-Earth exoplanet 55 Cancri e may feed an atmosphere rich in carbon dioxide or carbon monoxide,...

An artist’s impression of Dornraptor normani. Image credit: Megan Williams.

New Species of Jurassic Theropod Dinosaur Identified in England

May 6, 2024 by Enrico de Lazaro

BPP University paleontologist Matthew Baron has identified a previously unknown carnivorous dinosaur from Dorset, England based on fossils collected in...

Life reconstruction of Militocodon lydae. Image credit: Denver Museum of Nature & Science.

Newly-Discovered Species of Mammal Lived 610,000 Years after Dinosaur Extinction

May 6, 2024 by Natali Anderson

Paleontologists from Denver Museum of Nature & Science, Kent State University, the University of Michigan and City University of New York have discovered...

Rakus feeding on Fibraurea tinctoria leaves. Image credit: Laumer et al., doi: 10.1038/s41598-024-58988-7.

Sumatran Orangutan Spotted Treating Wound with Medicinal Plant

May 3, 2024 by News Staff

Primatologists in Indonesia have observed a wild male Sumatran orangutan (Pongo abelii) who sustained a facial wound. Three days after the injury he selectively...