Featured News | Sci.News

Detection of electric discharges in dust devils by the SuperCam instrument on board NASA’s Perseverance rover on Mars. Image credit: Nicolas Sarter.

Perseverance Detects Triboelectric Discharges during Martian Dust Devils and Storms

Dec 1, 2025 by News Staff

Using data captured by the SuperCam microphone aboard NASA’s Perseverance rover over two Martian years, planetrary scientists have detected 55 triboelectric...

The genomes of ancient cats from archaeological sites across Europe and Anatolia (circles in the map) revealed that domestic cats were introduced to Europe from North Africa starting at 2,000 years ago, several millennia after the onset of the Neolithic in Europe; African wildcats in Sardinia originate from a distinct wildcat population in Northwest Africa. Image credit: De Martino et al., doi: 10.1126/science.adt2642.

Domestic Cats Were Introduced to Europe around 2,000 Years Ago, Probably from North Africa: Study

Nov 28, 2025 by News Staff

The domestic cat (Felis catus) descends from the African wildcat (Felis lybica lybica). Its global distribution alongside humans testifies to its successful...

Australopithecus deyiremeda and Australopithecus afarensis. Image credit: Gemini AI.

Two Australopithecus Species Co-Existed in Ethiopia 3.4 Million Years Ago

Nov 28, 2025 by News Staff

In 2009, paleoanthropologists found eight bones from the foot of an ancient human ancestor in 3.4-million-year-old sediments at the paleontological site...

An artist’s impression of Quaoar and its two rings. Quaoar’s moon Weywot is shown on the left. Image credit: ESA / Sci.News.

Trans-Neptunian Object Quaoar Has Two Moons, New Study Suggests

Nov 24, 2025 by Natali Anderson

The newly-discovered moon has an estimated diameter of 38 km (23.6 miles) and a V magnitude of 28, likely making it the faintest satellite ever found around...

This image of 3I/ATLAS was captured by the HiRISE camera onboard NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter on October 2, 2025. Image credit: Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / University of Arizona.

Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Snaps Close-Ups of Interstellar Comet 3I/ATLAS

Nov 19, 2025 by News Staff

The new images from the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment camera onboard NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter will allow astronomers to better...

Kissing Likely Evolved in Common Ancestor of Humans and Large Apes 21 Million Years Ago

Nov 19, 2025 by News Staff

Kissing occurs in most living large apes, and likely also occurred in Neanderthals, first evolving in the ancestor to this group 21.5-16.9 million years...

An AI impression of the Early Earth. Image credit: Gemini AI.

Researchers Find Evidence of Ancient Microbial Life in 3.51 Billion-Year-Old Rocks

Nov 19, 2025 by News Staff

Teasing out biochemical information from ancient organic-rich sediments, notably the timing of the emergence of photosynthesis relative to the inferred...

This image of the interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS was captured with the Celestron EdgeHD 800 telescope on November 16, 2025. Image credit: Satoru Murata.

Astrophotographer Captures Stunning New Image of Interstellar Comet 3I/ATLAS

Nov 18, 2025 by Natali Anderson

A member of the ICQ Comet Observations group has released a new image of 3I/ATLAS, the third object and the second comet from outside the Solar System...

Reconstruction of nothosaurs about 240 million years ago revealing a hidden diversity from southwestern China: Lijiangosaurus yongshengensis (center), Nothosaurus yangjuanensis (upper left), Nothosaurus luopingensis (upper right), Brevicaudosaurus jiyangshanensis (lower left), and Lariosaurus hongguoensis (lower right). Image credit: Kelai Li.

Early Long-Necked Marine Reptile Unearthed in China

Nov 17, 2025 by Enrico de Lazaro

The exceptionally long neck of Lijiangosaurus yongshengensis contained 42 cervical vertebrae, according to a research team led by paleontologists from...

Artistic reconstruction of the filter-feeding pterosaur Barikibu waridza in the Early Cretaceous Romualdo Formation environment; the spinosaurid dinosaur in the background represents the putative predator that hunted Barikibu waridza. Image credit: Julio Lacerda.

New Filter-Feeding Pterosaur Species Discovered in Brazil

Nov 14, 2025 by Enrico de Lazaro

Named Bakiribu waridza, the newly-identified species is the first filter-feeding pterosaur from the tropics. Artistic reconstruction of the filter-feeding...

Panoramic aerial drone image of the Jinlin crater, taken on May 12, 2025. Image credit: Chen et al., doi: 10.1063/5.0301625.

Well-Preserved Impact Crater Discovered in China

Nov 13, 2025 by News Staff

Researchers have discovered an impact crater formed on a granite mountain capped by a thick weathering crust in southern China. Located in Zhaoqing in...

The Pleiades. Image credit: NASA / ESA / AURA / Caltech / Palomar Observatory.

Pleiades Star Cluster is Part of Much Larger Stellar Structure, Astronomers Say

Nov 13, 2025 by News Staff

Also known as the Seven Sisters and Messier 45, the Pleiades — an open star cluster about 440 light-years from Earth in the constellation of Taurus...

Monte Sierpe. Image credit: Charles Stanish.

Monte Sierpe: Thousands of Mysterious ‘Holes’ in Peru May Have Been Ancient Barter Marketplace

Nov 11, 2025 by News Staff

Monte Sierpe (translated as ‘serpent mountain’ and known colloquially as the ‘Band of Holes’) is located in the Pisco Valley of southern Peru and...

This image of 3I/ATLAS was captured on November 8, 2025, by astronomers from the ICQ Comet Observations group. Image credit: M. Jäger / G. Rhemann / E. Prosperi.

Astronomers Capture Post-Perihelion Images of Interstellar Comet 3I/ATLAS

Nov 10, 2025 by Natali Anderson

Some of the latest images of 3I/ATLAS — the third confirmed interstellar object to be detected passing through our Solar System, following 1I/ʻOumuamua...

Life reconstruction of Sinopterus atavismus. Image credit: Maurilio Oliveira / Science China Press.

Fossil Offers First Known Evidence of Pterosaur Herbivory

Nov 6, 2025 by News Staff

Paleontologists from China and Brazil say they have found a total of 320 phytoliths — microscopic, rigid bodies made of mineral deposits that form...

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 Has Already Entered Decelerating Phase, Study Suggests

Nov 6, 2025 by News Staff

New research from Yonsei University in Seoul, Korea, casts doubt on the long-standing theory that dark energy is driving distant galaxies away increasingly...

Life restoration of Manouria morla. Image credit: Rudolf Hima.

Ancestors of Asian Forest Tortoises Evolved in Europe, New Fossil Discovery Suggests

Nov 5, 2025 by Enrico de Lazaro

Paleontologists from the Institute of Paleobiology at the Polish Academy of Sciences and the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona have described a new species...

The 2.58-million-year-old stone tool from the site of Namorotukunan in Kenya. Image credit: Braun et al., doi: 10.1038/s41467-025-64244-x.

Archaeologists Find 2.75-Million-Year-Old Stone Tools in Kenya

Nov 4, 2025 by Natali Anderson

Archaeologists have discovered Oldowan stone tools in three distinct archaeological horizons, spanning approximately 300,000 years (2.75 to 2.44 million...

Life restoration of Epiaceratherium itjilik, at its forested lake habitat, Devon Island; the plants and animals shown are based on fossil finds at the site, including the transitional seal species Puijila darwini. Image credit: Julius Csotonyi.

Rhinos Lived in High Arctic 23 Million Years Ago

Nov 3, 2025 by News Staff

Paleontologists have identified a new Early Miocene species of the rhinocerotid genus Epiaceratherium from the fossilized remains found in the Canadian...