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This image of the asteroid Ryugu was captured by the Optical Navigation Camera - Telescopic (ONC-T) on JAXA’s Hayabusa-2 spacecraft on June 26, 2018, from a distance of 13.7 miles (22 km). Image credit: JAXA / University of Tokyo / Kochi University / Rikkyo University / Nagoya University / Chiba Institute of Technology / Meiji University / Aizu University / AIST.

Asteroid Ryugu’s Parent Body Formed in Outer Solar System, New Analysis Suggests

Sep 23, 2022 by News Staff

Samples of the near-Earth asteroid (162173) Ryugu were brought to Earth by JAXA’s Hayabusa-2 spacecraft. This image of the asteroid Ryugu was captured...

Protocodium sinense. Image credit: Chai et al., doi: 10.1186/s12915-022-01394-0.

Paleontologists Find 541-Million-Year-Old Green Alga Microfossils

Sep 21, 2022 by News Staff

Protocodium sinense is the first and oldest green alga species from the Ediacaran period (635-539 million years ago) to be preserved in three dimensions,...

This image, taken with Webb’s Near-Infrared Camera (NIRCam), shows Neptune, its dusty rings, and seven moons. Image credit: NASA / ESA / CSA / STScI.

Webb Focuses on Neptune, Its Moons and Ring System

Sep 21, 2022 by News Staff

NASA has released beautiful photos taken by the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope of the ice giant Neptune, its dusty rings, and seven moons. This...

This image of Mars, captured by Webb’s NIRCam instrument on September 5, 2022, shows 4.3-micron (F430M filter) emitted light that reveals temperature differences with latitude and time of day, as well as darkening of the Hellas Basin caused by atmospheric effects; the bright yellow area is just at the saturation limit of the detector. Image credit: NASA / ESA / CSA / STScI / Mars JWST / GTO Team.

Webb Captures Its First Images and Spectra of Mars

Sep 20, 2022 by News Staff

Using the Near-Infrared Camera (NIRCam) and the Near-Infrared Spectrograph (NIRSpec) aboard the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope, astronomers have...

Li et al. found that moderate consumption of black, green or oolong tea is linked to a lower risk of developing type 2 diabetes. Image credit: Sci.News.

Moderate Tea Consumption Lowers Type 2 Diabetes Risk, New Review Suggests

Sep 19, 2022 by News Staff

A review of previous cohort studies suggests that drinking at least four cups of black, green or oolong tea a day is associated with a 17% lower risk of...

An artist’s impression of Ibirania parva. Image credit: Matheus Gadelha / Divulgação.

New Small Titanosaur Species Discovered in Brazil

Sep 16, 2022 by Enrico de Lazaro

Paleontologists have announced the discovery of a small-sized titanosaurian dinosaur in the Brazilian state of São Paulo. An artist’s impression of...

An artistic interpretation of Opisthiamimus gregori. Image credit: Julius Csotonyi / Smithsonian Institution.

Fossils of Jurassic Tuatara Relative Unearthed in Wyoming

Sep 15, 2022 by News Staff

Opisthiamimus gregori is an extinct, small-bodied relative of the tuatara (Sphenodon punctatus), the only living member of the reptilian order Rhynchocephalia. An...

Bohn et al. identified a new set of previously undetected star-forming regions that are heavily obscured by dust in a starburst ring in the barred spiral galaxy NGC 7469. The area of this image from Webb’s Near-Infrared Camera (NIRCam) is shown by a box in the image of NGC 7469 below. Image credit: Bohn et al., arXiv: 2209.04466

Webb Observes Powerful Starburst Ring in NGC 7469

Sep 14, 2022 by Natali Anderson

Astronomers using the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope have discovered 36 new star-forming regions in a circumnuclear starburst ring in the barred...

The inner region of the Orion Nebula as seen by the NIRCam instrument on board the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope. This is a composite image from several filters that represents emission from ionized gas, hydrocarbons, molecular gas, dust and scattered starlight. Most prominent is the Orion Bar, a wall of dense gas and dust that runs from the top left to the bottom right in this image, and that contains the bright star θ2 Orionis A. The scene is illuminated by a group of hot, young massive stars -- known as the Trapezium Cluster -- that is located just off the top right of the image. The strong and harsh ultraviolet radiation of the Trapezium cluster creates a hot, ionized environment in the upper right, and slowly erodes the Orion Bar away. Molecules and dust can survive longer in the shielded environment offered by the dense Bar, but the surge of stellar energy sculpts a region that displays an incredible richness of filaments, globules, young stars with disks and cavities. Image credit: NASA / ESA / CSA / PDRs4All ERS Team / Salomé Fuenmayor.

Webb Captures Breathtaking Images of Orion Nebula

Sep 12, 2022 by Enrico de Lazaro

Astronomers using the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope have delivered the most detailed images ever taken of the inner region of the Orion Nebula. The...

Life reconstruction of Coelurosauravus elivensis. Image credit: Charlène Letenneur, MNHN.

New Research Reveals Secrets of First-Ever Gliding Reptile

Sep 12, 2022 by News Staff

Paleontologists from France and Germany have focused on the postcranial skeleton — including a remarkable gliding apparatus called the patagium —...

An artist’s impression of the triple brown dwarf system VHS J1256. Image credit: Sci.News.

Webb Detects Silicate Clouds on Nearby Brown Dwarf

Sep 7, 2022 by Natali Anderson

Using the spectral data from the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope, astronomers have found evidence for silicate clouds as well as water, methane,...

Brasilodon quadrangularis was approximately 12 cm (8 inches) long and weighed about 20 grams. The animal existed at the same time as the earliest known dinosaurs and probably lived in burrows like the shrews today. Image credit: Anatomical Society / Wiley.

Brasilodon is Earliest Known Mammal, New Research Shows

Sep 7, 2022 by News Staff

Paleontologists have examined the fossilized lower jaws of Brasilodon quadrangularis, a mouse-sized creature that lived in Brazil during the Late Triassic...

An artist’s reconstruction of Elemgasem nubilus. Image credit: Abel German Montes.

New Abelisaurid Dinosaur Unearthed in Argentina

Sep 6, 2022 by Enrico de Lazaro

A new genus and species of abelisaurid theropod dinosaur has been described from the fossils found in Patagonia, Argentina. An artist’s reconstruction...

This 340-light-year-wide image from Webb’s Near-Infrared Camera (NIRCam) shows the Tarantula Nebula. Image credit: NASA / ESA / CSA / STScI / Webb ERO Production Team.

Webb Takes Close Look at Tarantula Nebula

Sep 6, 2022 by News Staff

The Tarantula Nebula, a turbulent star-birth region located in the Large Magellanic Cloud, hosts thousands of young and still-forming stars, many revealed...

This Webb/MIRI image shows the super-Jupiter exoplanet HIP 65426b. Image credit: NASA / ESA / CSA / Webb / A. Carter, University of California, Santa Cruz / ERS 1386 team / A. Pagan, STScI / DSS.

Webb Directly Images Super-Jupiter Exoplanet

Sep 2, 2022 by Sergio Prostak

Using the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope, astronomers have captured a direct image of HIP 65426b, an extrasolar gas giant about 6 to 12 times...

The newly-discovered lensed star in the Abell 2744 galaxy-cluster field. Image credit: Chen et al., arXiv: 2207.11658.

Webb Detects Blue Supergiant Star in Early Universe

Sep 1, 2022 by Natali Anderson

The newly-discovered blue supergiant is much hotter than the Sun, and existed when the Universe was about 2.6 billion years old. Left panel shows the color...

Life reconstruction of Mbiresaurus raathi (foreground) with the rest of the Zimbabwean animal assemblage in the background: two rhynchosaurs (front right), an aetosaur (left), and a herrerasaurid dinosaur chasing a cynodont (back right). Image credit: Andrey Atuchin.

Meet Mbiresaurus raathi, Africa’s Oldest Known Dinosaur

Sep 1, 2022 by Enrico de Lazaro

Mbiresaurus raathi lived in what is now Zimbabwe during the Carnian age of the Triassic period, approximately 230 million years ago. Life reconstruction...

Patchy proton aurora on Mars. Image credit: EMM / EMUS / UAE Space Agency.

MAVEN and EMM Orbiters Observe ‘Patchy’ Proton Aurora on Mars

Aug 31, 2022 by News Staff

Even though Mars does not have a global magnetic field like the Earth, it still possesses multiple kinds of aurora. One of these is proton aurora, which...

The subantarctic rayadito (Aphrastura subantarctica). Image credit: Rozzi et al., doi: 10.1038/s41598-022-17985-4.

New Bird Species Discovered in South America

Aug 29, 2022 by Natali Anderson

Ornithologists have described a new species of the bird genus Aphrastura from the Diego Ramírez Archipelago, the southernmost point of the South American...