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A reconstruction of Homo naledi’s head by paleoartist John Gurche, who spent some 700 hours recreating the head from bone scans. The find was announced by the University of the Witwatersrand, the National Geographic Society and the South African National Research Foundation and published in the journal eLife. Image credit: John Gurche / Mark Thiessen / National Geographic.

Paleoanthropologists Find Fossil Remains of Immature Homo naledi

Nov 5, 2021 by News Staff

An international team of paleoanthropologists has discovered a partial skull and teeth from an immature individual of Homo naledi, a recently-discovered...

A proton-proton collision event with six muons (red lines) produced in the decays of three J/ψ particles. Image credit: CMS / CERN.

CERN Physicists Observe Triple J-psi Meson Production

Nov 4, 2021 by News Staff

Physicists from the Compact Muon Solenoid (CMS) Collaboration at CERN’s Large Hadron Collider (LHC) have observed three J/ψ particles emerging from...

This artist’s conception shows the dust continuum and molecular lines of carbon monoxide and water seen in the pair of galaxies known as SPT0311-58. Image credit: ALMA / ESO / NAOJ / NRAO / S. Dagnello, NRAO.

ALMA Detects Water and Carbon Monoxide in Distant Star-Forming Galaxy

Nov 3, 2021 by News Staff

Astronomers using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) have detected water and carbon monoxide molecules in a larger member of SPT-S...

The Inti tanager (Heliothraupis oneilli). Image credit: Louisiana State University / Lane et al., doi: 10.1093/ornithology/ukab059.

Inti Tanager: Colorful New Species of Bird Discovered in South America

Nov 3, 2021 by Natali Anderson

Ornithologists have discovered a new genus and species of tanager on the lower slopes of the Andes in southeastern Peru and western Bolivia. The Inti tanager...

Life restoration of Nochelaspis maeandrine. Image credit: Dinghua Yang.

Early Devonian Fish Had Triangular Head Shield

Nov 1, 2021 by Enrico de Lazaro

Paleoichthyologists in China have re-described Nochelaspis maeandrine, a species of large-sized eugaleaspiform fish that lived 415 million years ago (Devonian...

An artist’s impression of the sub-Neptune TOI-2285b and its parent star. Image credit: Sci-News.com.

Temperate Sub-Neptune Found Orbiting Nearby Red Dwarf

Nov 1, 2021 by Natali Anderson

Using data from NASA’s Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) and several ground-based telescopes, astronomers have discovered and confirmed a...

Homo bodoensis had a pan-African distribution with the peripheral range extending into the eastern Mediterranean (Southeast Europe and the Levant) from which it could have contributed to the repopulation of European (and possibly Central and East Asian) demographic sinks after the glaciations. Image credit: Ettore Mazza.

Meet Homo bodoensis, New Species of Human Ancestor

Oct 29, 2021 by News Staff

Homo bodoensis lived in Africa during the early Middle Pleistocene, around 500,000 years ago, and was the direct ancestor of the Homo sapiens lineage;...

True’s beaked whales (Mesoplodon mirus). Image credit: Roland Edler, Duisburg Zoo.

Marine Biologists Identify New Species of Beaked Whale

Oct 27, 2021 by Natali Anderson

The newly-identified species, named the Ramari’s beaked whale (Mesoplodon eueu), occurs throughout temperate southern hemisphere waters, with reports...

The 2,000-year-old amethyst seal found in Jerusalem, Israel. Image credit: Israel Antiquities Authority.

2,000-Year-Old Amethyst Seal Found in Israel

Oct 27, 2021 by News Staff

An amethyst gemstone seal from the Second Temple period has a unique engraving: a bird and a branch with five fruits, according to the Israel Antiquities...

LiDAR Reveals 478 Olmec and Maya Ceremonial Complexes in Mexico

Oct 26, 2021 by News Staff

Using a revolutionary technology known as LiDAR (laser imaging, detection and ranging), an international team of archaeologists has discovered 478 rectangular...

An artist’s impression of the Proxima Centauri system. Image credit: Lorenzo Santinelli.

Signal of Interest from Proxima Centauri Was Not Alien Technosignature, Astronomers Say

Oct 26, 2021 by Natali Anderson

In 2019, astronomers with the Breakthrough Listen project observed Proxima Centauri using CSIRO’s Parkes ‘Murriyang’ radio telescope. They detected...

Super-Jupiter Found Circling Very Young, Very Low Mass Star

Oct 25, 2021 by Enrico de Lazaro

The discovery of a super-Jupiter exoplanet around the M-type dwarf star 2MASS J04372171+2651014 challenges models of planet formation by either core accretion...

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.

New Research Provides Evidence that Vikings were Present in Newfoundland 1,000 Years Ago

Oct 22, 2021 by News Staff

The Vikings (or Norse) were the first Europeans to cross the Atlantic, confirms a new study published in the journal Nature. Kuitems et al. provide evidence...

Reconsturction of Mussaurus patagonicus herd. Image credit: Jorge Gonzalez.

Early Jurassic Herbivorous Dinosaurs Lived in Age-Segregated Herds

Oct 22, 2021 by News Staff

Paleontologists have analyzed an exceptional fossil assemblage from the Laguna Colorada Formation in Patagonia, Argentina, that includes 193-million-year-old...

Human-mediated selection for tusklessness in African savanna elephants (Loxodonta africana) during the Mozambican civil war appears to be driven by recent selection on at least one X-linked locus (AMELX) and one autosomal locus (MEP1a). Image credit: Benh Lieu Song / CC BY-SA 2.0.

Study: Intense Ivory Poaching Resulted in Rapid Evolution of Tusklessness in African Elephants

Oct 22, 2021 by News Staff

In response to heavy poaching by armed forces during the 20-year Mozambican civil war, populations of African savanna elephants (Loxodonta africana) in...

This artistic conception illustrates large asteroids penetrating Earth’s oxygen-poor atmosphere. Image credit: SwRI / Dan Durda / Simone Marchi.

Archean Asteroid Impacts Delayed Evolution of Earth’s Atmosphere, Study Suggests

Oct 21, 2021 by News Staff

A team of researchers from the United States and Austria has analyzed remnants of ancient asteroids and modeled the effects of their violent collisions...

Librado et al. pinpoint the Western Eurasian steppes, especially the lower Volga-Don region, as the homeland of modern domestic horses. Image credit: Devanath.

Horses Were First Domesticated in Western Eurasian Steppes More Than 4,000 Years Ago

Oct 21, 2021 by News Staff

In a study published this week in the journal Nature, scientists analyzed ancient horse genomes from all suspected domestication centers, including Iberia,...

Cretapsara athanata, a modern-looking eubrachyuran crab in Burmese amber. Image credit: Luque et al., doi: 10.1126/sciadv.abj5689.

99-Million-Year-Old Modern-Looking Crab Found in Burmese Amber

Oct 21, 2021 by News Staff

The new fossil from the Cretaceous of Myanmar preserves large compound eyes, delicate mouthparts, and even gills. Cretapsara athanata, a modern-looking...

The decay of a B0 meson into a K0 and an electron-positron pair in the LHCb detector, which is used for a sensitive test of lepton universality in the Standard Model. Image credit: CERN.

Novel Tests of Lepton Universality Boost Evidence for ‘New Physics’

Oct 21, 2021 by News Staff

Physicists from CERN’s LHCb (Large Hadron Collider beauty) Collaboration have carried out new tests of lepton universality, one of the basic principles...