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A gold solidus coin found by IAA archaeologists in Israel. Image credit: Dafna Gazit, Israel Antiquities Authority.

Huge Trove of Byzantine Gold Coins Unearthed in Israel

Oct 4, 2022 by News Staff

A hoard of 44 gold coins dating to the 7th century CE has been unearthed by archaeologists from the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA). A gold solidus...

Shown here in purple, the Magellanic Corona stretches more than 100,000 light-years from the main mass of stars, gas, and dust that make up the Magellanic Clouds, intermingling with the hotter and more extensive corona that surrounds the Milky Way. Image credit: Leah Hustak, STScI.

Magellanic Corona: Astronomers Detect Protective Shield around Small and Large Magellanic Clouds

Oct 4, 2022 by News Staff

The Small and Large Magellanic Clouds — satellite galaxies of the Milky Way Galaxy — are surrounded by a diffuse halo of hot, supercharged...

Dr. O’Connor with the skull of Sue the T. rex at the Field Museum. Image credit: Katharine Uhrich, Field Museum.

Holes of Unknown Origin Found in Tyrannosaurus rex’s Jawbone

Oct 3, 2022 by News Staff

A new analysis of enigmatic pathologies in the lower jaw of Sue the T. rex — one of the largest, most extensive, and best preserved Tyrannosaurus...

This Webb image shows observations of the Didymos-Dimorphos system several hours after NASA’s Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) intentionally impacted the moonlet. Image credit: NASA / ESA / CSA / Jian-Yang Li, PSI / Cristina Thomas, Northern Arizona University / Ian Wong, NASA-GSFC / Joseph DePasquale, STScI / Alyssa Pagan, STScI.

Webb and Hubble Simultaneously Observe DART Impact

Sep 29, 2022 by News Staff

The NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope and the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope teamed up to collect data before and after NASA’s Double Asteroid...

The Jupiter-sized planet TOI-5205b has a surface temperature of 737 K and orbits its parent star, TOI-5205, at a distance of 0.02 AU. Image credit: Sci.News.

Jupiter-Sized Exoplanet Found Orbiting TOI-5205

Sep 28, 2022 by Natali Anderson

Astronomers using NASA’s Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) have discovered a Jovian planet orbiting the M4-type dwarf TOI-5205. Their paper...

The asteroid moonlet Dimorphos as seen by NASA’s DART spacecraft 11 seconds before impact. DART’s on board DRACO imager captured this image from a distance of 68 km (42 miles). This image was the last to contain all of Dimorphos in the field of view. Image credit: NASA / Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory.

NASA’s DART Spacecraft Successfully Impacts Asteroid Moonlet Dimorphos

Sep 27, 2022 by News Staff

After 10 months flying in space, NASA’s Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) spacecraft crashed into the 160-m-wide asteroid moonlet Dimorphos —...

Serpentisuchops pfisterae used both its neck and snout in fast lateral strikes aimed at proportionately small prey. Image credit: Persons et al., doi: 10.1016/j.isci.2022.105033.

New Plesiosaur Species Unearthed in Wyoming

Sep 27, 2022 by News Staff

Unlike most plesiosaurs, Serpentisuchops pfisterae had both a long neck and large, elongated jaws. Serpentisuchops pfisterae used both its neck and snout...

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...