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An artist’s illustration of exoplanets orbiting Barnard’s star. Image credit: International Gemini Observatory / NOIRLab / NSF / AURA / P. Marenfeld.

Astronomers Find Evidence for Four Sub-Earth Exoplanets around Barnard’s Star

Mar 11, 2025 by News Staff

For a century, astronomers have been studying Barnard’s star in the hope of finding planets around it. First discovered by E.E. Barnard at Yerkes Observatory...

Chadititan calvoi. Image credit: Gabriel Lio.

New Titanosaur Species Discovered in Argentina

Mar 10, 2025 by Enrico de Lazaro

Paleontologists working in northern Patagonia, Argentina, have unearthed the fossils of a previously unknown species of small rinconsaurian titanosaur. Chadititan...

Jeholia longchengi is the first Mesozoic scorpion from China. Image credit: Jie Sun / Xuan et al., doi: 10.1016/j.scib.2025.01.035.

125-Million-Year-Old Scorpion Fossil Uncovered in China

Mar 7, 2025 by Enrico de Lazaro

Paleontologists have described a new genus and species of extinct scorpion from the Early Cretaceous Yixian Formation of China. Jeholia longchengi is the...

Artist’s impression of a hypervelocity star ejected from the Large Magellanic Cloud (shown on right). When a binary star system ventures too close to a supermassive black hole, the intense gravitational forces tear the pair apart. One star is captured into a tight orbit around the black hole, while the other is flung outward at extreme velocities -- often exceeding thousands of kilometers per second -- becoming a hypervelocity star. The inset illustration depicts this process: the original binary’s orbital path is shown as interwoven lines, with one star being captured by the black hole (near center of inset) while the other is ejected into space (lower right). Image credit: CfA / Melissa Weiss.

Astronomers Find Strong Evidence for Supermassive Black Hole in Large Magellanic Cloud

Mar 6, 2025 by News Staff

The mass of the supermassive black hole in the center of the Large Magellanic Cloud, a small satellite galaxy of the Milky Way, is about 600,000 solar...

Shatter cones at the North Pole Dome in the center of the Pilbara region, Australia. Image credit: Curtin University.

3.47-Billion-Year-Old Impact Crater Discovered in Australia

Mar 6, 2025 by News Staff

A team of geologists from Curtin University has discovered unequivocal evidence for a hypervelocity meteorite impact 3.47 billion years ago (Archean Eon)...

The 1.5-million-year-old elephant humerus that has been knapped into a tool. Image credit: CSIC.

1.5-Million-Year-Old Bone Tool ‘Factory’ Discovered in Tanzania

Mar 5, 2025 by News Staff

Paleoanthropologists have documented a bone tool assemblage from a single horizon dated to 1.5 million years ago at Olduvai Gorge in Tanzania. These bone...

This artist’s concept depicts one of the possible scenarios for the Altjira system in the Kuiper Belt. Image credit: NASA / ESA / Joseph Olmsted, STScI.

Kuiper-Belt Object Altjira is Likely a Hierarchical Triple System

Mar 4, 2025 by News Staff

Altjira, also known as 2001 UQ18, is located in the outer reaches of the Solar System, 6 billion km (3.7 billion miles) away, or 44 times the distance...

Artistic representation of a Middle-Late Triassic landscape of southern Brazil depicting two individuals of the proterochampsid archosauriform Retymaijychampsa beckerorum. Image credit: Caio Fantini.

New Species of Triassic Archosauriform Discovered in Brazil

Mar 3, 2025 by Enrico de Lazaro

A new genus and species of proterochampsid archosauriform has been identified from an almost complete fossilized hindlimb found in southern Brazil. Artistic...

Archer et al. reveal the first detailed look at polar bear cubs emerging from their dens. Image credit: Jon Aars / Norwegian Polar Institute.

Rare Footage of Moms, Cubs Emerging from Dens Sheds Light on Elusive Polar Bear Reproduction

Feb 27, 2025 by News Staff

Published today on International Polar Bear Day, new research marks the first combination of satellite tracking collars with remote camera traps to answer...

Life appearance of the fossil flying squirrel Miopetaurista neogrivensis showing the animal ready to land on a tree branch. Image credit: Oscar Sanisidro / ICP.

Giant Flying Squirrels Once Lived in North America

Feb 25, 2025 by Enrico de Lazaro

Paleontologists have found the 4.9-million-year-old (Early Pliocene) fossilized remains of the extinct flying squirrel Miopetaurista webbi in Tennessee,...

This image from Mars Express’ High Resolution Stereo Camera shows the globe of Mars set against a dark background. The disk of the planet features yellow, orange, blue and green patches, all with an overall muted grey hue, representing the varying composition of the surface. Image credit: ESA / DLR / FU Berlin / G. Michael / CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO.

Water-Rich Iron Mineral May Be Main Culprit behind Mars’ Red Color

Feb 25, 2025 by News Staff

Called ferrihydrite, this iron mineral formed during a cold, wet period on early Mars under oxidative conditions, followed by a transition to the current...

Visualization of the Radcliffe Wave. Image credit: Alyssa Goodman / Harvard University.

Our Solar System Crossed ‘Radcliffe Wave’ during Miocene Epoch, Astronomers Say

Feb 25, 2025 by Natali Anderson

As our Solar System orbits the Milky Way, it encounters various environments, including dense regions of the interstellar medium. These encounters can...

A panoramic photo taken by China’s Zhurong rover on Mars. Image credit: National Astronomical Observatories.

Early Mars Was Home to Sun-Soaked, Sandy Beaches, New Study Suggests

Feb 25, 2025 by News Staff

Using data gathered by China’s Zhurong rover, planetary researchers have identified hidden layers of rock under the Martian surface that strongly suggest...

An artist’s impression of a herd of lithostrotian dinosaurs (right). Image credit: ABelov / CC BY 3.0.

Large-Bodied Sauropod Dinosaur Lived on Cretaceous European Island

Feb 24, 2025 by Enrico de Lazaro

A new genus and species of titanosaur has been identified from the fossilized remains found in the Hațeg Basin in Transylvania, western Romania. An artist’s...

Bastetodon syrtos. Image credit: Ahmad Morsi.

Fearsome Hyena-Like Mammals Lived in Africa 30 Million Years Ago

Feb 17, 2025 by Natali Anderson

Paleontologists from the American University in Cairo and elsewhere say they have found an almost complete skull of the hyaenodont Bastetodon syrtos in...

Baminornis zhenghensis. Image credit: Chuang Zhao.

New Fossils from China Fill Gap in Early Evolutionary History of Birds

Feb 12, 2025 by Enrico de Lazaro

Paleontologists have unearthed the fossilized remains of two Jurassic bird species at a locality in Zhenghe county, Fujian province, southeast China. These...

Visual impression of the ultra-high energy neutrino event observed in KM3NeT/ARCA. Image credit: KM3NeT.

KM3NeT Telescope Detects Most Energetic Cosmic Neutrino Yet

Feb 12, 2025 by News Staff

Dubbed KM3-230213A, the newly-detected neutrino carried an astonishing energy of 220 peta-electronvolts (PeV), making it one of the most powerful elementary...

The greater bird-of-paradise (Paradisaea apoda). Image credit: Andrea Lawardi.

82% Species of Birds-of-Paradise are Biofluorescent, New Study Shows

Feb 11, 2025 by News Staff

Birds-of-paradise are a family of small to medium-sized forest birds found in the New Guinea region. With their elaborate and colorful feathers, these...

Close-up of the Einstein ring around NGC 6505. Image credit: ESA / Euclid / Euclid Consortium / NASA / J.-C. Cuillandre / G. Anselmi / T. Li.

Astronomers Discover Complete Einstein Ring around NGC 6505

Feb 10, 2025 by Natali Anderson

An Einstein ring (also known as an Einstein-Chwolson ring or Chwolson ring) is created as the light from distant objects, like galaxies, pass by an extremely...