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This image, acquired by NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter on October 1, 2020, shows several craters in Arabia Terra filled with layered rock. Image credit: NASA / Molly Wasser.

Early Mars Experienced Volcanic Supereruptions, Reseachers Say

Sep 16, 2021 by News Staff

Using high-resolution images from NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, planetary scientists have discovered 4-billion-year-old layered deposits containing...

One photodetector array of the XENON1T detector seen through the other. Image credit: XENON Collaboration.

XENON1T Experiment May Have Directly Detected Dark Energy

Sep 16, 2021 by News Staff

Some unexplained results from the XENON1T dark-matter detector — a 1,300-kg vat of super-pure liquid xenon shielded from cosmic rays in a cryostat...

Life reconstruction of giant penguins. Image credit: Simone Giovanardi.

New Giant Penguin Species Unearthed in New Zealand

Sep 16, 2021 by Enrico de Lazaro

A new species of large-sized penguin being named Kairuku waewaeroa has been identified from the fossilized bones found in Kawhia Harbour on the North Island...

Parietal art panel at Quesang, Tibet. Image credit: Zhang et al., doi: 10.1016/j.scib.2021.09.001.

Middle-Pleistocene Hominin Hand and Foot Impressions Found in Tibet

Sep 15, 2021 by News Staff

A series of previously unreported hand and foot impressions from the Tibetan Plateau dates to between 169,000 and 226,000 years ago (middle Pleistocene...

Several lines of study suggest that peripheral metabolism of amyloid beta (Aß) is associated with risk for Alzheimer’s disease. In blood, greater than 90% of Aß is complexed as an apolipoprotein, raising the possibility of a lipoprotein-mediated axis for Alzheimer’s disease risk. Lam et al. report that genetic modification of C57BL/6J mice engineered to synthesize human Aß only in liver has marked neurodegeneration concomitant with capillary dysfunction, parenchymal extravasation of lipoprotein-Aß, and neurovascular inflammation. Image credit: National Institute on Aging / National Institutes of Health.

Protein from Liver May Cause Alzheimer’s Disease, Groundbreaking Study Says

Sep 15, 2021 by News Staff

According to a new study in mice, a probable cause of Alzheimer’s disease is the leakage from blood into the brain of fat-carrying particles transporting...

The little spotted kiwi (Apteryx owenii). Artwork by John Gerrard Keulemans, 1870s.

Fossil of Extinct Kiwi Species Found in New Zealand

Sep 13, 2021 by Enrico de Lazaro

Paleontologists have described a new species of kiwi that lived during the mid-Pleistocene period on the North Island of New Zealand. The little spotted...

An artist’s reconstruction of Carnotaurus sastrei based on the scaly skin described by Hendrickx & Bell. Image credit: Jake Baardse.

Carnotaurus Had Scaly Skin with No Feathers, Paleontologists Say

Sep 10, 2021 by Enrico de Lazaro

Paleontologists have described in detail for the first time the scaly skin of Carnotaurus sastrei, an abelisaurid theropod that lived in South America...

Shea trees, the source for the popular ingredient shea butter, grow in a shea parkland during the lush rainy season near the town of Bole in northern Ghana. Image credit: Iago Hale / University of New Hampshire.

Shea Tree Genome Sequenced

Sep 10, 2021 by News Staff

Scientists have decoded the genome of the shea tree (Vitellaria paradoxa), a unique agroforestry tree species central to sustaining local livelihoods and...

Restoration of Archicebus achilles (Xijun Ni / Chinese Academy of Sciences)

Early Eocene Primate Had Dental Caries

Sep 10, 2021 by Sergio Prostak

Dental cavities or caries is a common disease among modern humans, affecting almost every adult. New research shows that Microsyops latidens, a species...

The kākāpō (Strigops habroptilus). Image credit: Jake Osborne.

Scientists Sequence Genome of Kakapo Parrot

Sep 9, 2021 by News Staff

An international team of researchers has successfully sequenced and analyzed the genome of the kākāpō (Strigops habroptilus), a flightless parrot endemic...

Life reconstruction of Ulughbegsaurus uzbekistanensis and a smaller tyrannosauroid. Image credit: Julius T. Csotonyi.

New Species of Giant Meat-Eating Dinosaur Identified in Uzbekistan

Sep 9, 2021 by Enrico de Lazaro

A new genus and species of carcharodontosaurian theropod dinosaur has been identified from a fossillized jawbone found in the Republic of Uzbekistan. Life...

Life reconstruction of Kurupi itaata. Image credit: Júlia d’Oliveira, doi: 10.1016/j.jsames.2021.103551.

New Predatory Dinosaur Unearthed in Brazil

Sep 7, 2021 by Enrico de Lazaro

Paleontologists in Brazil have found fossil fragments from a new species of abelisaurid theropod dinosaur that walked the Earth during the Cretaceous period. Life...

Teratornis. Image credit: Universidad Maimonides.

Fossils of Giant Carnivorous Birds Found in Argentina

Sep 6, 2021 by Enrico de Lazaro

Paleontologists have unearthed the fossilized remains of large teratornithid birds at four localities in central Argentina. Teratornis sitting on the extinct...

The Indian wolf (Canis lupus pallipes). Image credit: Dhaval Vargiya / CC BY-SA 4.0.

Scientists Sequence Genome of Indian Wolf

Sep 6, 2021 by News Staff

Indian wolves (Canis lupus pallipes) could represent the most ancient surviving lineage of wolves, according to an analysis of the animal’s newly-sequenced...

Life restoration of Petalodus sharks. Image credit: Dinghua Yang.

Permian-Period Shark Had Petal-Shaped Teeth

Sep 3, 2021 by Enrico de Lazaro

Paleontologists have uncovered seven well-preserved teeth from the extinct shark genus Petalodus in Shanxi province, China. Life restoration of Petalodus...

A spotted skunk doing its signature handstand. Image credit: Jerry W. Dragoo.

New Research Reveals Seven Spotted Skunk Species Instead of Four

Sep 3, 2021 by News Staff

A team of U.S. scientists led by Chicago State University has analyzed species limits and diversification patterns in spotted skunks using nuclear and...

This DEC image shows Centaurus A, a giant galaxy located some 13 million light-years away in the constellation of Centaurus. Image credit: CTIO / NOIRLab / DOE / NSF / AURA / M. Soraisam, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign & NOIRLab / T.A. Rector, University of Alaska Anchorage & NOIRLab / M. Zamani, NOIRLab / D. de Martin, NOIRLab.

Astronomers Capture Beautiful New Image of Centaurus A

Sep 2, 2021 by News Staff

Using the Dark Energy Camera (DEC) on the Víctor M. Blanco 4-m Telescope at Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory in Chile, astronomers have obtained...

Padana, a female orangutan at Leipzig Zoo, continued to use wooden hammers to crack nuts for some time after the end of the study. Image credit: Claudio Tennie.

Orangutans Observed Using Hammer Tools to Crack Nuts

Sep 1, 2021 by Natali Anderson

New research from the University of Tübingen demonstrates that nut-cracking can emerge in Sumatran (Pongo abelii) and Bornean (Pongo pygmaeus) orangutans...

This is an artist’s impression of a free-floating Y-dwarf. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech.

Enigmatic Ancient Brown Dwarf Spotted in Solar Neighborhood

Sep 1, 2021 by News Staff

WISEA J153429.75-104303.3 (WISE 1534-1043 for short) — nicknamed ‘The Accident’ by its discoverer, citizen scientist Dan Caselden — is...