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This image shows the location of the 43 quasars Lehner et al used to probe Andromeda’s gaseous halo. These quasars are scattered far behind the halo, allowing scientists to probe multiple regions. Looking through the immense halo at the quasars’ light, the team observed how this light is absorbed by the halo and how that absorption changes in different regions. By tracing the absorption of light coming from the background quasars, the astronomers are able to probe the halo’s material. Image credit: NASA / ESA / E. Wheatley, STScI.

Astronomers Create Map of Andromeda Galaxy’s Gaseous Halo

Aug 28, 2020 by News Staff

Astronomers using the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope have found that a halo of diffuse plasma around the Andromeda galaxy, which is located 2.5 million...

Life reconstruction of the putative attack of a young to sub-adult Purussaurus on the ground sloth Pseudoprepotherium in a swamp of proto-Amazonia. Image credit: Jorge A. González.

Giant Miocene Caiman Preyed on Ground Sloths

Aug 27, 2020 by Sergio Prostak

Purussaurus, a top predator that lived in the wetlands of proto-Amazonia between 6 and 13 million years ago (Miocene epoch), hunted not only aquatic animals...

A mustatil in the Nefud Desert, northern Arabia. Image credit: Huw Groucutt.

Archaeologists Find 7,000-Year-Old Stone Monuments in Northern Arabia

Aug 25, 2020 by Enrico de Lazaro

An international team of archaeologists has found and studied 104 enigmatic stone structures called ‘mustatils’ in the southern part of the Nefud Desert...

An artist’s impression of a free-floating exoplanet. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / R. Hurt, Caltech-IPAC.

Free-Floating Exoplanets May Outnumber Stars in Milky Way

Aug 25, 2020 by News Staff

Free-floating, or rogue, exoplanets — free-floating planetary-mass objects that do not orbit a star and instead travel through space — could...

An aerial photo of the Canaanite fortress near Gal On in central Israel. Image credit: Emil Aladjem, Israel Antiquities Authority.

Archaeologists Unearth Canaanite Fortress in Central Israel

Aug 25, 2020 by News Staff

Archaeologists from the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) have uncovered the ruins of a 3,200-year-old Canaanite fortress near Gal On, a kibbutz in central...

The Solar System moves through the Local Interstellar Cloud. Image credit: NASA / Adler / University of Chicago / Wesleyan.

Solar System is Traveling through Cloud of Supernova Debris: Study

Aug 25, 2020 by Enrico de Lazaro

An international team of scientists has found interstellar iron-60, a radioactive isotope with a half-life of 2.6 million years that is predominantly produced...

A hoard of Islamic gold coins dating from the 9th century CE, found near Yavne in Israel. Image credit: Emil Aladjem / Israel Antiquities Authority.

Huge Trove of Gold Coins from Abbasid Period Unearthed in Israel

Aug 25, 2020 by News Staff

A team of archaeologists and volunteers has unearthed a hoard of 1,100-year-old Islamic gold coins near the city of Yavne in the Central District of Israel. A...

Paleontologists Find Massive Marine Reptile in Stomach of Triassic Ichthyosaur

Aug 24, 2020 by News Staff

A new fossil of Guizhouichthyosaurus, a 5-m- (16.4-foot) long ichthyosaur that swam in Middle Triassic oceans some 240 million years ago, contains the...

Platymantis navjoti male in life. Image credit: Cameron Siler, University of Oklahoma.

New Species of Forest Frog Discovered in Philippines

Aug 24, 2020 by Natali Anderson

An international team of field biologists has described a new species of the frog genus Platymantis from Leyte and Samar islands, the Philippines. The...

This image of comet C/2020 F3 (NEOWISE) was taken by Hubble on August 8, 2020. Image credit: NASA / ESA / A. Pagan, STScI / Q. Zhang, Caltech.

Hubble Captures Close-Up Image of Comet NEOWISE

Aug 21, 2020 by News Staff

A new image from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope shows the coma of comet C/2020 F3 (NEOWISE) and its dusty output. This image of comet C/2020 F3 (NEOWISE)...

Honey is more effective than usual care alternatives and avoids causing harm through antimicrobial resistance. Image credit: PollyDot.

Honey is More Effective than Usual Care Alternatives for Improving Respiratory Symptoms

Aug 21, 2020 by News Staff

Honey is more effective and less harmful than usual care for improving symptoms of upper respiratory tract infections, particularly cough frequency and...

Will Universe End with ‘Black Dwarf’ Supernova Explosions?

Aug 20, 2020 by News Staff

A series of ‘black dwarf’ supernovae will be the last astrophysical events to occur in our Universe prior to the so-called heat death, when the Universe...

A Somali sengi (Galegeeska revoilii) at the Assamo locality in Djibouti. As is observed in other sengi species, Somali sengis have some variation in pelage colors. These differences seem to correspond to the color variation of substrates between occurrence localities. At the Assamo site, in the extreme southeastern corner of Djibouti, sengi habitats are comprised of rocks with more rusty coloration than elsewhere in the country. Compared to other Djiboutian sites, sengis from Assamo have dorsal pelage hairs with more pronounced reds. Image credit: Steven Heritage.

Scientists Rediscover Long-Lost Species of Mammal: Somali Sengi

Aug 20, 2020 by Enrico de Lazaro

A team of researchers from the United States and the Republic of Djibouti has rediscovered the elusive Somali sengi (‘Elephantulus’ revoilii) over...

Chandra Spots High-Velocity Knots of Stellar Debris in Kepler’s Supernova Remnant

Aug 20, 2020 by News Staff

New images from NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory show small knots of metal-rich debris in the remnant of Kepler’s supernova, also known as SN 1604,...

Mother-pup pair of the greater sac-winged bat (Saccopteryx bilineata) in their daytime roost. The pup (dark fur color) is holding on to the mother’s belly (light fur color). Image credit: Michael Stifter.

Mother Bats Use ‘Baby Talk’ to Speak to Their Offspring, New Study Shows

Aug 20, 2020 by News Staff

A special form of vocal feedback in humans, infant-directed speech — also known as motherese or ‘baby talk’ — facilitates language learning...

An artist’s conception of a potential solar companion, which theorists believe was developed in the Sun’s birth cluster and later lost. If proven, the solar companion theory would provide additional credence to theories that the Oort Cloud formed as we see it today, and that Planet Nine was captured rather than formed in place. Image credit: M. Weiss.

Early Solar System May Have Had Two Suns

Aug 19, 2020 by News Staff

In a paper published in the Astrophysical Journal Letters, Harvard University astrophysicists Avi Loeb and Amir Siraj show that an equal-mass stellar companion...

An artist’s rendition of a supernova explosion. Image credit: ESA / Hubble / L. Calcada / NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center.

Nearby Supernovae Caused Late Devonian Extinctions, Scientists Say

Aug 19, 2020 by News Staff

Multiple supernova explosions about 65 light-years away may have contributed to the ozone depletion and several subsequent extinction events at the Devonian-Carboniferous...

An artist’s impression of one of the team’s discoveries -- the oldest known wide-separation white dwarf plus cold brown dwarf pair. Image credit: NOIRLab / NSF / AURA / P. Marenfeld / William Pendrill.

Astronomers Find 95 New Brown Dwarfs in Solar Neighborhood

Aug 19, 2020 by News Staff

A team of professional astronomers and citizen scientists from the Backyard Worlds: Planet 9 project has spotted 95 new brown dwarfs near the Sun. An artist’s...

Emperor penguins (Aptenodytes forsteri). Image credit: Michael Van Woert / NOAA NESDIS / ORA.

Genetic Researchers Reconstruct Evolutionary History of Penguins

Aug 18, 2020 by News Staff

In a new study, an international team of scientists used 22 newly-sequenced genomes from 18 extant species of penguins to reconstruct the history of their...