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Scientists Find Exotic Carbon Microcrystals in Chelyabinsk Meteoritic Dust

SEM image of the carbon crystals in the Chelyabinsk meteoritic dust. Image credit: Taskaev et al., doi: 10.1140/epjp/s13360-022-02768-7.
Jun 28, 2022 by Natali Anderson

When a space body enters Earth’s atmosphere, its surface is exposed to high pressure and temperatures. The airflow tears off small droplets from the meteoroid forming a cloud of dust. Can new materials be synthesized in these unique conditions? Researchers have found the unique carbon crystals in the meteoritic dust from the Chelyabinsk superbolide, which exploded in 2013 above snowy fields of the Southern Urals. Optical (a) and SEM (b-d) images...

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Single filament of Ca. Thiomargarita magnifica. Image credit: Jean-Marie Volland.

Newly-Discovered Species of Bacterium is Visible to Naked Eye

Jun 24, 2022 by Natali Anderson

Cells of most bacterial species are around 2 micrometers in length, with some of the largest specimens reaching 750 micrometers. The newly-discovered species,...

Schematic illustration of the quasi-elastic reaction investigated by Duer et al. Top: quasi-elastic scattering of the helium-4 (4He) core from a helium-8 (8He) projectile off a proton target in the laboratory frame. The length of the arrows represents the momentum per nucleon (the velocity) of the incoming and outgoing particles. Zbeam is the beam axis. Bottom: the equivalent p-4He elastic scattering in their center-of-mass frame, where we consider reactions at backward angles close to 180°. In this frame, the momentum of the proton balances that of 4He, Pp=−P4He, that is, the proton is four times faster than 4He. Image credit: Duer et al., doi: 10.1038/s41586-022-04827-6.

Physicists Observe Elusive Four-Neutron System: Tetraneutron

Jun 23, 2022 by Enrico de Lazaro

Physicists using the Superconducting Analyzer for Multi-particles from Radio Isotope Beams (SAMURAI) in Japan have experimentally observed a resonance-like...

An artist’s reconstruction of Homo heidelbergensis making a flint handaxe. Image credit: Gabriel Ugueto.

Early Humans were Present in Southeast Britain 620,000 Years Ago

Jun 23, 2022 by News Staff

The archaeological site of Fordwich in northeast Kent, England, reveals the presence of Acheulean hominins — possibly Homo erectus or Homo heidelbergensis...

Field photograph of the pathologic ovum-in-ovo egg documented from the Lameta Formation of village Padlya, Dhar District, Madhya Pradesh, India. Two slightly partially broken circular eggshell outlines can be seen with broken eggshell fragments within. A crescent-shaped gap is characteristically present in the upper right part of the egg. Image credit: Dhiman et al., doi: 10.1038/s41598-022-13257-3.

Unique Titanosaur Egg-Inside-Egg Found in India

Jun 22, 2022 by Enrico de Lazaro

Paleontologists have found a fossilized egg within another egg — a condition known as ovum-in-ovo — of a titanosaurid dinosaur in central India....

An artist’s impression of the HD 33142 planetary system, which is located 397 light-years away in the constellation of Lepus. Image credit: Sci-News.com.

Three Massive Planets Orbit Nearby Giant Star HD 33142

Jun 20, 2022 by Natali Anderson

An international team of astronomers, using the radial velocity (RV) method, has discovered a third planet in the planetary system HD 33142. An artist’s...

This Hubble image shows a blue stellar system. Image credit: Michael Jones.

New Type of Stellar System Discovered

Jun 17, 2022 by News Staff

Astronomers have spotted five blue stellar systems — which they say appear through a telescope as blue blobs and are about the size of dwarf galaxies...

The polar bear (Ursus maritimus) from the Viviparous Quadrupeds of North America (1845) illustrated by John Woodhouse Audubon.

Scientists Sequence Genome of 100,000-Year-Old Polar Bear

Jun 17, 2022 by News Staff

Polar bears (Ursus maritimus) and brown bears (Ursus arctos) are sister species possessing distinct physiological and behavioral adaptations that evolved...

Biswas et al. examined the effects of actual caffeine intake on spending. Image credit: Sci-News.com.

Caffeine Consumption Leads to Impulsivity during Shopping, New Study Shows

Jun 17, 2022 by Natali Anderson

New research conducted at multiple retail stores across different countries and in the lab indicates that consuming a caffeinated (vs. non-caffeinated)...

Tartarocyon cazanavei. Image credit: Denny Navarra.

Gigantic Bear-Dogs Lived in France 12 Million Years Ago

Jun 16, 2022 by Enrico de Lazaro

Paleontologists have described a new species of large-sized amphicyonid carnivore from a fossilized mandible found in France. Tartarocyon cazanavei. Image...

A cat (Felis catus) licks and chews silver vine (Actinidia polygama) leaves. Image credit: Masao Miyazaki & Reiko Uenoyama.

Plant-Damaging Behavior Plays Important Role in Gaining Pest-Repellency in Cats: Study

Jun 15, 2022 by Enrico de Lazaro

New research provides evidence that the physical damage of catnip (Nepeta cataria) and silver vine (Actinidia polygama) leaves by feline licking and chewing...

Low levels of vitamin D were associated with lower brain volumes and an increased risk of dementia and stroke. Image credit: Sci-News.com.

Study Shows Link between Vitamin D Deficiency and Brain Health

Jun 15, 2022 by Enrico de Lazaro

New research led by University of South Australia scientists supports a causal effect of vitamin D deficiency on brain health, notably for the risk of...

The interstellar dust map made with Gaia’s data release 3. Image credit: ESA / Gaia / DPAC.

ESA’s Gaia Mission Releases Its Third Full Dataset

Jun 14, 2022 by News Staff

Gaia’s data release 3 (DR3) contains new and improved details for almost 2 billion stars in our Milky Way Galaxy as well as for a subset of solar system...

ALMA Images Highly Eccentric Debris Disk around HD 53143

Jun 14, 2022 by Enrico de Lazaro

HD 53143 is a one-billion-year-old solar-type star located 59.8 light-years away in the constellation of Carina. This composite image shows the HD 53143...

Takagi et al. examined whether domestic cats learn that human utterances indicate specific objects in their daily life. Image credit: Corina.

Cats Learn Names of Their Feline Friends, New Study Shows

Jun 13, 2022 by Natali Anderson

Humans communicate with each other through language, which enables us talk about things beyond time and space. Do non-human animals learn to associate...

The star-filled sky in this Hubble photo lies in the direction of the Galactic center. The light from stars is monitored to see if any change in their apparent brightness is caused by a foreground object drifting in front of them. The warping of space by the interloper would momentarily brighten the appearance of a background star, an effect called gravitational lensing. One such event, OB110462, is shown in the four close-up frames at the bottom. The arrow points to a star that momentarily brightened, as first captured by Hubble in August 2011. This was caused by a foreground black hole drifting in front of the star, along our line of sight. The star brightened and then subsequently faded back to its normal brightness as the black hole passed by. Because a black hole doesn’t emit or reflect light, it cannot be directly observed. But its unique thumbprint on the fabric of space can be measured through these so-called microlensing events. Image credit: NASA / ESA / Hubble / K. Sahu, STScI / J. DePasquale, STScI.

Hubble Detects Free-Floating Compact Object 5,000 Light-Years Away

Jun 13, 2022 by Enrico de Lazaro

Astronomers have for the first time discovered what may be an isolated stellar-mass black hole using the astrometric microlensing technique. They estimate...

This artist’s impression shows a long umbilical scar on Psittacosaurus. Image credit: Jagged Fang Designs.

Some Non-Avian Dinosaurs Had ‘Belly Buttons,’ New Fossil Shows

Jun 13, 2022 by News Staff

In egg-laying amniotes (reptiles, birds and monotremes), the developing embryo is tethered to a number of the extraembryonic membranes that deliver oxygen...

Fernanda, the only known living Fernandina giant tortoise (Chelonoidis phantasticus), now lives at the Galápagos National Park’s Giant Tortoise Breeding Center on Santa Cruz Island. Image credit: Galápagos Conservancy.

Fernandina Island Tortoise Is Not Extinct, New Study Confirms

Jun 10, 2022 by News Staff

The status of the Fernandina Island Galapagos giant tortoise (Chelonoidis phantasticus) has been a mystery, with the species known from a single specimen...

New Spinosaurid Dinosaur Unearthed on Isle of Wight

Jun 9, 2022 by Enrico de Lazaro

Dubbed the ‘White Rock spinosaurid,’ the new dinosaur is ‘one of Europe’s largest ever land-based hunters.’ Life reconstruction of the White...

Reconstruction of the paleoecosystem of the Upper Cretaceous Bahariya Formation of the Bahariya Oasis, Western Desert of Egypt, showing diversity of large-bodied theropod dinosaurs. In the foreground, the unidentified abelisaurid described herein (right) confronts the spinosaurid Spinosaurus aegyptiacus (left center, with the lungfish Retodus tuberculatus in jaws) and the carcharodontosaurid Carcharodontosaurus saharicus (right center) while two individuals of the stomatosuchid crocodyliform Stomatosuchus inermis (left) look on. In the background, a herd of the titanosaurian sauropod Paralititan stromeri (left) warily regards these theropods and two individuals of the bahariasaurid Bahariasaurus ingens (far right) while a small flock of an undescribed pterosaur soars above. The vegetation is dominated by the mangrove-like tree fern Weichselia reticulata. Image credit: Andrew McAfee, Carnegie Museum of Natural History.

Fossil of Previously Unknown Carnivorous Dinosaur Found in Egypt

Jun 8, 2022 by Enrico de Lazaro

Paleontologists have unearthed a well-preserved cervical vertebra of a medium-sized abelisaurid ceratosaur in the Bahariya Oasis of the Western Desert...

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