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An artist’s impression of the VVV-WIT-08 binary system. Image credit: Amanda Smith, University of Cambridge.

Giant ‘Blinking’ Star Spotted in Milky Way’s Central Region

Jun 11, 2021 by News Staff

A giant star called VVV-WIT-08 exhibited a smooth, eclipse-like drop in brightness to a depth of 97% in 2012; minimum brightness occurred in April 2012...

An artist’s rendering of the Neptune-like exoplanet TOI-1231b. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech.

Neptune-Like Exoplanet Found Circling Nearby Red Dwarf

Jun 10, 2021 by Sergio Prostak

Astronomers using NASA’s Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) have discovered a temperate, Neptune-sized planet orbiting the M-dwarf star TOI-1231. An...

The Yunnan woolly flying squirrel (Eupetaurus nivamons). Image credit: Quan Li.

Two New Species of Woolly Flying Squirrels Discovered

Jun 10, 2021 by Sergio Prostak

An international team of zoologists from Australia and China has discovered two new cryptic species in the genus Eupetaurus — which previously included...

The LHCb Collaboration measured the tiny mass difference between the D1 and D2 mesons, which are a manifestation of the quantum superposition of the D0 particle and its antiparticle. This mass difference controls the speed of the D0 oscillation into its antiparticle and back. Image credit: CERN.

CERN Physicists Observe Nonzero Mass Difference between Charm Meson and Its Antiparticle

Jun 9, 2021 by News Staff

Physicists from the LHCb Collaboration at CERN have proved that a subatomic particle called the charm meson can switch into its antiparticle and back again....

This image of Ganymede was obtained by the JunoCam imager aboard NASA’s Juno spacecraft during its June 7, 2021, flyby of the icy moon. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / SwRI / MSSS.

NASA’s Juno Orbiter Completes Close Flyby of Ganymede

Jun 9, 2021 by News Staff

Juno’s June 7, 2021 flyby of Ganymede is the closest a spacecraft has come to Jupiter’s largest moon since NASA’s Galileo spacecraft made its close...

A bdelloid rotifer. Image credit: Michael Plewka.

Frozen Microscopic Animals Brought Back to Life after 24,000 Years

Jun 9, 2021 by News Staff

Microscopic multicellular animals called bdelloid rotifers are known for their ability to survive extremely low temperatures. They had been reported to...

Life reconstruction of Australotitan cooperensis. Image credit: Vladislav Konstantinov / Scott Hocknull.

New Titanosaur Species Uncovered in Australia

Jun 8, 2021 by Enrico de Lazaro

The newly-discovered species of titanosaurian sauropod dinosaur, named Australotitan cooperensis, is the largest species of dinosaur ever found in Australia. Life...

New species of Cisticola warblers from the Kilombero floodplain of Tanzania: at the top, Kilombero cisticola; at the bottom white-tailed cisticola; for both species, the bird in the front is painted after the type specimen while the bird behind is based on photos of birds in more worn plumages. Image credit: Jon Fjeldså.

Two New Bird Species Identified in Tanzania

Jun 7, 2021 by Natali Anderson

An international team of ornithologists has described and named two new species of the warbler genus Cisticola using museum specimens collected half a...

Astronomers Detect High-Energy Gamma Rays from Afterglow of Long Gamma-Ray Burst

Jun 4, 2021 by News Staff

Long gamma-ray bursts are bright flashes of extragalactic gamma rays produced during the collapse of a massive star. A gamma-ray burst itself lasts only...

This artist’s concept shows NASA’s VERITAS spacecraft using its radar to produce high-resolution maps of Venus’ topographic and geologic features. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech.

NASA Selects Two New Missions to Venus

Jun 3, 2021 by News Staff

NASA has selected two new Discovery Program missions — the Deep Atmosphere Venus Investigation of Noble gases, Chemistry, and Imaging (DAVINCI+)...

This image shows Valparaiso 1, a young open cluster located 7,500 light-years away in the constellation of Scutum. Image credit: Gabriel Pérez Díaz, SMM & IAC.

New Open Cluster Discovered: Valparaiso 1

Jun 3, 2021 by Natali Anderson

Using astrometric, photometric and optical spectroscopy data from ESA’s Gaia mission and the 2MASS survey, astronomers have discovered a large, populous,...

The Basenji dog (Canis lupus familiaris).

Researchers Sequence Genome of Basenji Dog

Jun 2, 2021 by News Staff

An international team of scientists has sequenced and assembled the genome of the Basenji dog (Canis lupus familiaris), an ancient dog breed of central...

Coxcatlan Cave, a rock shelter located within the southern portion of the Tehuacan Valley in Mexico. Image credit: Andrew Somerville.

Humans Arrived in North America More Than 30,000 Years Ago, Study Suggests

Jun 2, 2021 by News Staff

Archaeologists have obtained radiocarbon dates for the faunal bones excavated from Coxcatlan Cave, a dry rock shelter located within the southern portion...

The spread of 46 human chromosomes. Image credit: Bhatiya et al., doi: 10.1007/s10577-021-09660-7.

Researchers Measure Mass of Human Chromosomes

Jun 2, 2021 by News Staff

Each human cell, at metaphase, normally contains 23 pairs of chromosomes, or 46 in total. Within these are four copies of 3.5 billion base pairs of DNA....

A teacher guides a student through a task in this historical photo of the Abecedarian Project. Image credit: Virginia Tech.

Active Early Learning Shapes Adult Brain Structure, New Research Shows

Jun 1, 2021 by News Staff

In new research published in the Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, low socioeconomic status infants were randomized to either five years of cognitively...

Scientists Find Rare Mineral inside Chiton Teeth

Jun 1, 2021 by News Staff

A rare iron mineral called santabarbaraite has never before been seen in a living organism, according to a paper to be published in the Proceedings of...

New Species of Duck-Billed Dinosaur Unearthed in Mexico

May 31, 2021 by Enrico de Lazaro

Paleontologists have identified a new species of lambeosaurine hadrosaur from fossils found in northern Mexico. Life reconstruction of Tlatolophus galorum....

Curiosity captured these clouds just after sunset on March 19, 2021, the 3,063rd Martian day, or sol, of the rover’s mission. The image is made up of 21 individual images stitched together and color corrected so that the scene appears as it would to the human eye. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / MSSS.

Curiosity Spots Carbon Dioxide-Ice Clouds in Martian Skies

May 28, 2021 by News Staff

In March 2021, NASA’s Curiosity rover observed clouds made of carbon dioxide (CO2) ice at high altitudes in the atmosphere of Mars. Curiosity captured...

This panorama shows the central region of the Milky Way Galaxy. It builds on previous surveys from NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory and other telescopes, and expands Chandra’s high-energy view farther above and below the plane of the Galaxy than previous imaging campaigns. X-rays from Chandra are orange, green, and purple, showing different X-ray energies, and the radio data from MeerKAT are gray. Image credit: NASA / CXC / UMass / Q.D. Wang / NRF / SARAO / MeerKAT.

New Map Reveals X-Ray-Emitting Threads and Plume-Like Structures near Milky Way’s Center

May 28, 2021 by News Staff

Using NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory and the MeerKAT radio telescope in South Africa, an astronomer from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst has...