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An artist’s impression of a supermassive dark star. Image credit: Sci.News.

Webb May Have Spotted Supermassive Dark Stars

Jul 15, 2023 by Enrico de Lazaro

The first generation of stars in the Universe is yet to be observed. There are two leading theories for those objects: hydrogen burning Population III...

The 2,000-year-old fresco in Pompeii showing what may be an ancestor of modern pizza. Image credit: Pompeii archeological park.

Pompeii Fresco Depicts ‘Possible Ancestor’ of Italian Pizza

Jul 11, 2023 by Enrico de Lazaro

A 2,000-year-old still life fresco depicting a flat focaccia (Italian flatbread) has been found among the ruins of Pompeii, an ancient Roman city frozen...

This artist’s impression shows the evolution of the Universe beginning with the Big Bang on the left followed by the appearance of the Cosmic Microwave Background. The formation of the first stars ends the cosmic dark ages, followed by the formation of galaxies. Image credit: M. Weiss / Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics.

Our Universe is 26.7 Billion Years Old, Astrophysicist Claims

Jul 11, 2023 by News Staff

The Universe could be twice as old as current estimates, according to new research from the University of Ottawa that challenges the dominant cosmological...

Tiny meteoritic spherules from the most likely path of IM1. Image credit: Avi Loeb, Harvard University / Galileo Project.

Tiny Fragments of Interstellar Meteor May Have Been Found in Pacific Ocean

Jul 10, 2023 by Natali Anderson

Harvard University’s Professor Avi Loeb and colleagues have discovered at least 50 tiny spherical iron fragments near the fireball path of the first...

An artist’s impression of LTT 9779b orbiting its host star. Image credit: Ricardo Ramírez Reyes, Universidad de Chile.

Cheops Finds Metal Clouds in Atmosphere of Ultrahot Neptune

Jul 10, 2023 by Enrico de Lazaro

Aside from the Moon, the brightest object in our night sky is planet Venus, whose thick cloud layer reflects around 75% of the Sun’s light. By comparison,...

The 300,000-year-old ‘giant handaxe’ from the Maritime Academy site in Frindsbury, Kent, England. Image credit: Ingrey et al., doi: 10.11141/ia.61.6.

300,000-Year-Old ‘Giant Handaxes’ Unearthed in England

Jul 5, 2023 by News Staff

Archaeologists have found several handaxes — two of which can be classed as ‘giant handaxes’ — at the Maritime Academy site in Frindsbury,...

The Mizoram parachute gecko (Gekko mizoramensis). Image credit: Lal Muansanga.

New Species of Gliding Gecko Discovered in India

Jul 4, 2023 by Natali Anderson

A team of researchers from Mizoram University and the Max Planck Institute for Biology has discovered a new species of the gecko genus Gekko living in...

Hypothesized reconstruction of Vampyrofugiens atramentum. Image credit: A. Lethiers.

Jurassic Vampire Squid Had Ink Sac and Luminous Organs

Jul 3, 2023 by Sergio Prostak

Paleontologists have identified a new genus and species of vampyromorph coleoid from a fossil specimen found in the Middle Jurassic La Voulte-sur-Rhône...

Universe was Five Times Slower Soon after Big Bang, Astrophysicists Say

Jul 3, 2023 by News Staff

A fundamental consequence of the relativistic picture of expanding space is cosmological time dilation, where events in the distant Universe appear to...

Massospondylus carinatus. Image credit: Nobu Tamura, http://spinops.blogspot.com / Patty Jansen / Sci.News.

South African Fossil Reveals Smallest Jurassic Sauropodomorph Dinosaur

Jun 29, 2023 by Sergio Prostak

This dinosaur weighed around 75 kg, making it one of the smallest known sauropodomorph species, and the smallest ever reported from the Jurassic period. Massospondylus...

An artist’s interpretation of an array of pulsars being affected by gravitational ripples produced by a supermassive black hole binary in a distant galaxy. Image credit: Aurore Simonnet / NANOGrav Collaboration.

Astrophysicists Detect Low-Frequency Gravitational Waves

Jun 29, 2023 by News Staff

Astrophysicists from the North American Nanohertz Observatory for Gravitational Waves (NANOGrav) Collaboration have found evidence for gravitational waves...

The common cuttlefish (Sepia officinalis). Image credit: Stephan Junek, Max Planck Institute for Brain Research.

Cuttlefish Camouflage is More Complex Than Previously Thought

Jun 28, 2023 by News Staff

Scientists from the Max Planck Institute for Brain Research and the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology have studied camouflage in the common cuttlefish...

The Wilson’s little penguin (Eudyptula wilsonae). Image credit: Simone Giovanardi.

3-Million-Year-Old Fossils Support Zealandian Origin for Smallest Living Penguins

Jun 27, 2023 by Sergio Prostak

Eudyptula wilsonae is the smallest extinct crown penguin yet known and is a possible ancestor of the kororā or New Zealand little penguin (Eudyptula minor...

Gonkoken nanoi. Image credit: Gabriel Diaz Yantén (Paleogdy).

Relict Duck-Billed Dinosaur Unearthed in Chilean Patagonia

Jun 26, 2023 by Enrico de Lazaro

Gonkoken nanoi is the first non-hadrosaurid duck-billed dinosaur known from the southern supercontinent of Gondwana. Gonkoken nanoi. Image credit: Gabriel...

Life reconstruction of Olympicetus thalassodon pursuing a school of fishes alongside plotopterid birds (background) somewhere in the eastern North Pacific Ocean. Image credit: Cullen Townsend.

Paleontologist Describes New Species of Ancient Toothed Whale

Jun 23, 2023 by News Staff

Olympicetus thalassodon is one of several that are helping us understand the early history and diversification of modern dolphins, porpoises and other...

Life restoration of Macrocollum itaquii. Image credit: Nobu Tamura, http://spinops.blogspot.com / Alan Frijns / Sci.News.

Pneumatic Air-Filled Bones First Appeared in Sauropod Dinosaurs 225 Million Years Ago: Study

Jun 21, 2023 by Enrico de Lazaro

Paleontologists have examined an almost complete skeleton of Macrocollum itaquii, an unaysaurid sauropodomorph dinosaur that lived in what is now Brazil...

The 57,000-year-old Neanderthal engravings discovered in La Roche-Cotard cave, France: the ‘circular panel’ (left) and the ‘wavy panel’ (right). Image credit: Jean-Claude Marquet / CC-BY 4.0.

57,000-Year-Old Neanderthal Engravings Discovered in France

Jun 21, 2023 by Enrico de Lazaro

Non-figurative markings on the walls of La Roche-Cotard cave in France are the oldest known engravings made by our sister species. The 57,000-year-old...

Life reconstruction of the mosasaur Plioplatecarpus, a distant relative of Sarabosaurus dahli. Image credit: Sci.News / Dmitry Bogdanov.

New Species of Mosasaur Identified in Utah

Jun 20, 2023 by Sergio Prostak

A new genus and species of mosasaurid being named Sarabosaurus dahli has been discovered by a team of paleontologists from the United States, the Netherlands...

An artist’s impression of Nihohae matakoi. Image credit: Daniel Verhelst.

Oligocene-Period Dolphin Had Procumbent Tusk-Like Teeth

Jun 19, 2023 by Enrico de Lazaro

Nihohae matakoi’s tusk-like teeth suggest adaptive advantages for horizontally procumbent teeth in ancient dolphins. An artist’s impression of Nihohae...