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Life reconstruction of Megatherium. Image credit: Sebastián Rozadilla.

Paleontologists Find 3.58-Million-Year-Old Ground Sloth Fossil

Feb 3, 2021 by Enrico de Lazaro

Paleontologists in Argentina have discovered what they say is one of the oldest-known fossils of the ground sloth Megatherium. Life reconstruction of Megatherium....

An artist’s impression of the Tlingit fort. Image credit: Sitka National Historical Park.

Researchers Locate Elusive Tlingit Fort in Alaska

Feb 2, 2021 by News Staff

Using geophysical imaging techniques and ground-penetrating radar, a team of scientists from Cornell University and the U.S. National Park Service has...

An artist’s impression of the KIC 8462852 binary system. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech.

Milky Way’s ‘Most Mysterious Star’ Has a Companion

Feb 2, 2021 by Sergio Prostak

KIC 8462852, a mysteriously dimming star located about 1,480 light-years away in the constellation of Cygnus, is, in fact, a binary stellar system, made...

Brookesia nana, male. Image credit: Glaw et al., doi: 10.1038/s41598-020-80955-1.

World’s Tiniest Reptile Found in Madagascar

Feb 1, 2021 by Natali Anderson

An international team of scientists has discovered a new, extremely miniaturized species of the chameleon genus Brookesia living in a montane rainforest...

The 357,000-year-old abrading tool from Tabun Cave, Mount Carmel, Israel. Image credit: Shimelmitz et al., doi: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2020.102909.

357,000-Year-Old Abrading Tool Unearthed in Israel

Feb 1, 2021 by Enrico de Lazaro

The 357,000-year-old abrader found in the Lower Paleolithic layers of Tabun Cave in Israel is presently the earliest documented artifact of its kind. The...

An artist’s impression of the five-planet system HD 108236. Image credit: Sci-News.com.

Five Giant Planets Orbit Nearby Sun-Like Star

Jan 29, 2021 by Natali Anderson

Astronomers using ESA’s CHaracterising ExOPlanet Satellite (CHEOPS) have discovered a fifth planet around the bright, Sun-like star HD 108236. An artist’s...

The 635-million-year-old fungus-like filamentous microfossils from the Doushantuo Formation in China. Image credit: Andrew Czaja, University of Cincinnati.

Paleontologists Find 635-Million-Year-Old Land Fungus-Like Fossils

Jan 28, 2021 by Enrico de Lazaro

The 635-million-year-old pyritized fungus-like microfossils found in the Ediacaran-period Doushantuo Formation in China provide direct fossil evidence...

Casiraghi et al. show that on nights before a full moon, people sleep less and go to bed later on average. Image credit: Florian Kurz.

Study: Sleep Starts Later and is Shorter on Nights before Full Moon

Jan 28, 2021 by News Staff

Before the availability of artificial light, moonlight was the only source of light sufficient to stimulate nighttime activity; still, evidence for the...

A group of Parasaurolophus cyrtocristatus being confronted by a tyrannosaurid in the subtropical forests of New Mexico 75 million years ago. Image credit: Andrey Atuchin.

Paleontologists Find Well-Preserved Skull of Tube-Crested Dinosaur

Jan 27, 2021 by News Staff

The exquisite preservation of a new, partial skull of Parasaurolophus cyrtocristatus, a species of duck-billed dinosaur that lived during the Cretaceous...

Kramadolops maximus, the youngest known species of polydolopid marsupial. Image credit: Gabriel Lío.

Three New Species of Extinct Marsupials Identified

Jan 26, 2021 by Enrico de Lazaro

Dr. Laura Chornogubsky, a paleontologist in the Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales ‘Bernardino Rivadavia’ and CONICET, has described one new genus...

An artist’s impression of a juvenile tyrannosaur. Image credit: Julius Csotonyi.

Tyrannosaur Hatchlings Were as Big as Medium-Sized Dog

Jan 26, 2021 by News Staff

An international team of paleontologists has examined the fossilized remains of baby tyrannosaurid dinosaurs found in Alberta, Canada, and Montana, the...

An artist’s impression of the TOI-178 system. Image credit: L. Calçada / ESO / Spaceengine.org.

Nearby Orange Dwarf Hosts Unique System of Six Planets

Jan 25, 2021 by News Staff

The TOI-178 planetary system, a 7.1-billion-year-old system of six planets in the super-Earth to mini-Neptune range, five of which are locked in a rare...

Structure of TIC 168789840, a sextuple system of three eclipsing binaries arranged as inner quadruple AC and outer binary B. Image credit: Sci-News.com.

TESS Discovers Sextuply-Eclipsing Six-Star System

Jan 25, 2021 by Natali Anderson

TIC 168789840 is the first known sextuple (six-star) system consisting of three eclipsing binaries. Structure of TIC 168789840, a sextuple system of three...

Carr et al. investigated how stupendously large black holes could form and potential limits to their size. Image credit: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center.

Stupendously Large Black Holes Could Be Hiding in Universe

Jan 22, 2021 by News Staff

If ‘stupendously large’ black holes, those with masses more than 100 billion times that of the Sun, exist in the Universe, they would provide a powerful...

An artistic rendering of Kraken Mare, a large liquid methane sea on Titan. Image credit: NASA’s John Glenn Research Center.

Titan’s Largest Methane Sea is Over 100 Meters Deep

Jan 21, 2021 by News Staff

Kraken Mare, a sea of liquid methane on Saturn’s moon Titan, is at least 100-m (330 feet) deep near its center, according to an analysis of data collected...

Paleontologists Reconstruct Cloacal Opening of Non-Avian Dinosaur

Jan 21, 2021 by News Staff

Although paleontologists know now much about dinosaurs and their appearance, they have not known anything about how their cloacal region — the all-purpose...

The Australian lungfish (Neoceratodus forsteri) at the National Zoo & Aquarium in Canberra, Australia. Image credit: Mitch Ames / CC BY-SA 4.0.

Australian Lungfish Genome Sequenced

Jan 21, 2021 by Natali Anderson

The Australian lungfish (Neoceratodus forsteri), a species of lungfish native to the Mary and Burnett River systems in south-eastern Queensland, has a...

Life reconstruction of Xenodens calminechari. Image credit: Andrey Atuchin.

Cretaceous Mosasaur Had Shark-Like Cutting Teeth

Jan 20, 2021 by News Staff

A bizarre new genus and species of mosasaur with teeth unlike those of any known reptile has been identified from fossils found in Morocco. Life reconstruction...

99-Million-Year-Old Bioluminescent Beetle Found Preserved in Amber

Jan 20, 2021 by Enrico de Lazaro

Found in a piece of mid-Cretaceous amber from northern Myanmar, the wonderfully-preserved male of Cretophengodes azari has a light organ on the abdomen...