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A family of Thescelosaurus neglectus emerges from safety to forage in the forests of the Hell Creek Formation, 66 million years ago. Image credit: Anthony Hutchings.

One of the Last Surviving Non-Avian Dinosaurs Lived in Burrows, Had Super Senses: Study

Nov 8, 2023 by Enrico de Lazaro

New research demonstrates that the brain of Thescelosaurus neglectus, a small plant-eating neornithischian dinosaur that lived just before the end-Cretaceous...

Reconstruction of a Neanderthal. Image credit: Neanderthal Museum.

31,000-Year-Old Spearthrower Points Unearthed in Belgium

Nov 7, 2023 by Enrico de Lazaro

Archaeologists in Belgium have demonstrated that spearthrowers were used for launching projectiles armed with tanged flint points at the Early Upper Paleolithic...

The tiger (Panthera tigris). Image credit: Chiem Seherin.

Comparative Genomic Study Sheds New Light on Cat Evolution

Nov 7, 2023 by News Staff

New research led by Texas A&M University and the University of Missouri scientists explains how cats, including domestic cats, lions, tigers, Geoffroy’s...

Bogdán et al. and Goulding et al. combined data from Webb and Chandra to identify the growing black hole at the center of UHZ1. Image credit: NASA / CXC / SAO / Bogdán et al. / ESA / CSA / STScI / L. Frattare / K. Arcand.

Growing Supermassive Black Hole Detected in Early Universe

Nov 7, 2023 by Enrico de Lazaro

Observations of quasars reveal that many supermassive black holes were in place less than 700 million years after the Big Bang. However, the origin of...

Illustration of Ekgmowechashala, the last primate to inhabit North America before humans. Image credit: Kristen Tietjen / Biodiversity Institute and Natural History Museum, University of Kansas.

Paleontologists Find New Fossils of Enigmatic North American Primate

Nov 6, 2023 by News Staff

Ekgmowechashala is a poorly documented but very distinctive species of ancient primate that lived in western North America during the Early Oligocene epoch,...

An artist’s concept of Kepler-385, the seven-planet system revealed in a new catalog of planet candidates discovered by NASA’s Kepler space telescope. Image credit: NASA / Daniel Rutter.

Kepler-385 Hosts Seven Large Exoplanets, Astronomers Say

Nov 6, 2023 by Natali Anderson

A new analysis of data from NASA’s retired Kepler space telescope has revealed a system of seven giant planets around Kepler-385. An artist’s concept...

Life reconstruction of the lamprey Yanliaomyzon from the Jurassic Yanliao Biota, China. Image credit: Nice Vistudio / Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Chinese Academy of Sciences.

Large Flesh-Eating Lampreys Lived in Jurassic Oceans

Nov 3, 2023 by Enrico de Lazaro

Paleontologists in China have unearthed and examined the superbly preserved fossilized remains of two lamprey species from the Jurassic Yanliao Biota....

Yuan et al. suggest that LLVPs are remnants of the ancient protoplanet Theia that violently collided with Earth billions of years ago in the same giant impact that created our Moon. Image credit: Hernán Cañellas.

Two Fragments of Protoplanet Theia Lie Deep within Earth, Geoscientists Say

Nov 1, 2023 by Enrico de Lazaro

A giant collision between the ancient protoplanet Theia and the proto-Earth about 4.5 billion years ago may have formed Earth’s Moon as well as two continent-sized...

This image of Ganymede was obtained by the JunoCam imager aboard NASA’s Juno spacecraft during its June 7, 2021, flyby of the icy moon. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / SwRI / MSSS.

Juno Detects Various Salts and Organic Compounds on Ganymede

Nov 1, 2023 by News Staff

Using data from the Jovian InfraRed Auroral Mapper (JIRAM) aboard NASA’s Juno spacecraft, planetary scientists have detected hydrated sodium chloride,...

Reconstruction of Jormungandr walhallaensis shown engaging in intraspecific combat. Image credit: Henry Sharpe.

New Mosasaur Species Unearthed in North Dakota

Oct 31, 2023 by Enrico de Lazaro

A new genus and species of mosasaur being named Jormungandr walhallaensis has been discovered by American Museum of Natural History Ph.D. student Amelia...

Life reconstruction of Samsarasuchus pamelae. Image credit: Gabriel Lio.

New Species of Triassic Crocodile-Like Reptile Identified in India

Oct 30, 2023 by Enrico de Lazaro

Paleontologists in India have identified a new genus and species of proterosuchid reptile from both new and historically collected specimens. Life reconstruction...

This composite image, taken by Webb’s NIRCam and MIRI instruments, shows the famous Crab Nebula. Image credit: NASA / ESA / CSA / Webb / STScI / Tea Temim, Princeton University.

Webb Reveals Never-Before-Seen Details in Crab Nebula

Oct 30, 2023 by News Staff

Using the Near-Infrared Camera (NIRCam) and Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI) onboard the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope, astronomers are searching...

An artist’s impression of Liassophlebia sp., resting on a frond of the paleofern species Phlebopteris muensteri. Image credit: Jules Kiely, Bristol Museum & Art Gallery / Swaby et al., doi: 10.1080/08912963.2023.2261957.

202-Million-Year-Old Damsel-Dragonfly Fossil Unearthed in UK

Oct 27, 2023 by Natali Anderson

The new find suggests that Liassophlebiidae — a small extinct family of damsel-dragonflies known from the Early Mesozoic of Europe, Asia, and Antarctica...

An artistic representation of how Uranus’ northern infrared aurora (marked in red) would have looked like in 2006. Image credit: NASA / ESA / M. Showalter, SETI Institute / Hubble Space Telescope.

Infrared Aurora Detected on Uranus

Oct 27, 2023 by News Staff

While the ultraviolet aurora of Uranus has been observed since 1986, no confirmation of the infrared aurora had been observed until now. An artistic representation...

This composite image, taken by JAXA’s Akatsuki spacecraft, shows Venus. Image credit: JAXA / ISAS / DARTS / Damia Bouic.

Venus May Have Once Had Earth-Like Plate Tectonics

Oct 26, 2023 by News Staff

Venus is the least understood of the terrestrial planets. Despite broad similarities to the Earth in mass and size, Venus has no evidence of plate tectonics...

The 125-million-year-old Mantellisaurus footprints found on the Isle of Wight. Image credit: JBA Consulting / Environment Agency.

125-Million-Year-Old Dinosaur Footprints Discovered on Isle of Wight

Oct 26, 2023 by Enrico de Lazaro

Scientists from the Environment Agency, JBA Consulting and the Dinosaur Isle Museum have found rare footprints of iguanodontian dinosaurs on Yaverland...

An artist’s depiction of a liquid silicate layer wrapped around the Martian core. Image credit: IPGP-CNES.

InSight Finds Evidence for Molten Silicate Layer above Martian Metallic Core

Oct 25, 2023 by News Staff

Mars’ liquid iron alloy core is surrounded by a layer of fully molten silicate (magma) about 150 km thick, according to a pair of papers published in...

Model of the ornithopod dinosaur Qantassaurus intrepidus, a distant relative of Ampelognathus coheni. Image credit: Paleocolour.

New Species of Ornithopod Dinosaur Identified in Texas

Oct 23, 2023 by Enrico de Lazaro

A new genus and species of small-bodied ornithopod dinosaur has been described from a partial jawbone unearthed in Texas, the United States. Model of the...

An artist’s impression of Lorrainosaurus keileni. Image credit: Joschua Knüppe.

Paleontologists Identify Oldest-Known Mega-Predatory Pliosaur

Oct 23, 2023 by Enrico de Lazaro

Lorrainosaurus keileni lived in the Middle Jurassic seas, approximately 170 million years ago. An artist’s impression of Lorrainosaurus keileni. Image...