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This artist’s concept depicts the mini-Neptune exoplanet Gliese 1214b. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / R. Hurt, IPAC.

Webb Detects Water Vapor in Atmosphere of Gliese 1214b

May 11, 2023 by News Staff

Gliese 1214b is a so-called mini-Neptune, a smaller, denser version of Neptune that consists of a rocky core surrounded by a thick blanket of gas. This...

An artist’s impression of the Kimmeridge Clay pliosaur. Image credit: Megan Jacobs, University of Portsmouth.

Fossils of Gigantic Pliosaur Uncovered in England

May 10, 2023 by Sergio Prostak

Paleontologists have unearthed four cervical vertebrae of Jurassic pliosaurid in the Kimmeridge Clay Formation near Abingdon, Oxfordshire, England. The...

Reconstruction of the living bar-tailed trogon (Apaloderma vittatum) in the Catalogue of the Birds in the British Museum.

Eocene-Period Trogon Already Had Heterodactyl Feet

May 8, 2023 by Natali Anderson

Trogons (Trogoniformes) are the only group of birds with a heterodactyl foot, in which the second toe is permanently reversed. Reconstruction of the living...

Reconstruction of the Castle Bank community; sponge in foreground is 2 cm tall. Image credit: Botting et al., doi: 10.1038/s41559-023-02038-4.

Ordovician-Period Fossil Site Discovered in Wales

May 3, 2023 by Sergio Prostak

The highly-diverse Middle Ordovician fossil site at Castle Bank, Wales, is directly comparable with the famous Burgess Shale and Chengjiang biotas in paleoenvironment...

An artist’s impression of the early Earth. Image credit: NASA.

Energetic Particles from Young Sun May Have Kickstarted Life on Early Earth

May 2, 2023 by News Staff

Life most likely started during the Hadean Eon (4.5 to 4 billion years ago). However, the environmental conditions which contributed to the complexity...

An artist’s reconstruction of two Amphimachairodus hezhengensis defending their prey (Hezhengia bohlini) from two Dinocrocuta gigantea. Image credit: Oscar Sanisidro.

Paleontologists Identify New Species of Saber-Toothed Cat

May 1, 2023 by Enrico de Lazaro

The newly-identified species — the earliest and most primitive member of the saber-toothed cat genus Amphimachairodus — had craniodental adaptations...

Scientists with the Zoonomia Project offer a vast quantity of insights into the workings and progress of mammalian genomes. Image credit: Victoria Regen.

Zoonomia: 240 Mammalian Genomes Reveal What Makes Humans Unique

May 1, 2023 by News Staff

Over the past 100 million years, mammals have adapted to nearly every environment on Earth. Scientists with the Zoonomia Project have been cataloging the...

Balto with Gunnar Kasson, his musher in the 1925 Serum Run. Image credit: Cleveland Public Library.

Researchers Sequence Genome of Famed Sled Dog Balto

Apr 28, 2023 by Natali Anderson

The sled dog Balto has been celebrated in books and movies for his role in delivering desperately needed diphtheria antitoxin to Nome, Alaska, in 1925....

In this artist’s conception, M87*’s massive jet is seen rising up from the center of the black hole. Image credit: S. Dagnello, NRAO, AUI & NSF.

New Images of Messier 87’s Black Hole Reveal Glowing Ring and Powerful Jet

Apr 27, 2023 by News Staff

In 2017, astronomers from the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) Collaboration captured the first image of a black hole by coordinating radio dishes around...

This illustration shows how the ultrahot Jupiter KELT-9b sees its host star. Image credit: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center / Chris Smith, USRA.

Terbium Detected in Atmosphere of Ultrahot Jupiter KELT-9b

Apr 26, 2023 by Natali Anderson

Terbium, a chemical element with the symbol Tb and atomic number 65, has never before been seen in an exoplanet atmosphere. This illustration shows how...

The European sea sturgeon (Acipenser sturio). Image credit: Alexander Francis Lydon.

66-Million-Year-Old Sturgeon Fossil Found in Morocco

Apr 26, 2023 by Enrico de Lazaro

The new specimen represents the first occurrence of an acipenseriform (sturgeon) fish on the continent of Africa. The European sea sturgeon (Acipenser...

Paleoenvironmental restoration of the fossil locality in the Hasandong Formation and the Testudoolithus aff. curiosa egg clutch. Image credit: Hyunjoo Shin.

110-Million-Year-Old Turtle Eggs Unearthed in South Korea

Apr 24, 2023 by Sergio Prostak

Paleontologists have found a clutch of fossilized turtle eggs in the Lower Cretaceous Hasandong Formation in South Korea. Paleoenvironmental restoration...

Illustration of an Earth-like exoplanet after X-ray radiation exposure. Image credit: NASA / CXC / M. Weiss.

X-Ray-Luminous Supernovae Pose Threat to Earth-Like Planetary Atmospheres, Study Says

Apr 20, 2023 by News Staff

The aftermaths of supernovae always produce X-rays, but if the supernova’s blast wave strikes dense surrounding gas, it can produce a particularly large...

Visualization of the glazed wall made with translucent aerogel bricks. Image credit: Ganobjak et al., doi: 10.1016/j.jobe.2022.105600.

Materials Scientists Create Translucent Aerogel Bricks

Apr 20, 2023 by Enrico de Lazaro

A team of materials scientists from Empa (Swiss Federal Laboratory for Science and Technology) and the Slovak University of Technology has developed a...

This Hubble image shows NGC 1333, a reflection nebula located 1,000 light-years away in the northern constellation of Perseus. Image credit: NASA / ESA / STScI.

Hubble Captures NGC 1333 in Stunning 33rd Anniversary Image

Apr 20, 2023 by News Staff

This new photo of the reflection nebula NGC 1333 was taken in celebration of the 33rd anniversary of the launch of the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope...

Molt remains of feather-feeding beetle larvae intimately associated with downy feather portions from an unidentified theropod dinosaur in Early Cretaceous amber of Spain. Insets show the head with powerful mandibles of one of the larval molts (top) and the pigmentation pattern of feather second order branches (bottom), with the main stem of one feather at the right of the amber fragment. The length of the amber fragment is 6 mm. Image credit: CN IGME-CSIC.

Ancient Beetles Fed on Cast-Offs of Feathered Dinosaurs 105 Million Years Ago

Apr 20, 2023 by Enrico de Lazaro

Vertebrates and arthropods are two of the most successful and frequently fossilized animal groups, but direct evidence of their interaction in deep time...

Kuitems et al. provide evidence that the Norse were active on the North American continent in the year 1021 CE. Image credit: Oscar C.R.

Vikings Abandoned Southwest Greenland Due in Part to Sea-Level Rise, New Research Suggests

Apr 18, 2023 by News Staff

The first records of Greenland Vikings date to 985 CE. Archaeological evidence yields insight into how they lived, yet drivers of their disappearance in...

JUICE lifted off on an Ariane 5 rocket from Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana on April 14, 2023. Image credit: M. Pédoussaut / ESA.

ESA’s JUICE Spacecraft Launches to Study Jupiter’s Icy Moons

Apr 17, 2023 by News Staff

ESA’s latest interplanetary mission, the JUpiter ICy Moons Explorer (JUICE), lifted off on an Ariane 5 rocket from Europe’s Spaceport in French...

Life reconstruction of Beesiiwo cooowuse with the pseudosuchian Heptasuchus clarki in the background representing the known fauna from the lower carbonate unit of the Popo Agie Formation, Wyoming, the United States. Image credit: Gabriel Ugueto.

New Species of Rhynchosaur Unearthed in Wyoming

Apr 14, 2023 by Enrico de Lazaro

Paleontologists have identified a new genus and species of hyperodapedontine rhynchosaur from several specimens unearthed in central Wyoming, the United...