News

Baleen Whales First Evolved Large Body Size in Cold Southern Waters, New Fossil Shows

Early Miocene mysticete gigantism. Image credit: Ruairidh Duncan
Dec 26, 2023 by News Staff

Baleen whales (mysticetes) include the largest animals on the Earth. How they achieved such gigantic sizes remains debated, with previous research focusing primarily on when they became large, rather than where. Now, paleontologists have described an edentulous baleen whale (chaeomysticete) fossil from South Australia. With an estimated body length of 9 m, it is the largest baleen whale from the Early Miocene. Analysing body size through time shows...

read more...
This simulation illustrates a galaxy disk being disturbed, leading to the propagation of a seismic ripple throughout the disk. Image credit: Bland-Hawthorn & Tepper-Garcia, University of Sydney.

ALMA Detects Seismic Ripples in Disk of Ancient Barred Spiral Galaxy

Dec 26, 2023 by Enrico de Lazaro

Astronomers using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) have observed a disk bending wave in BRI 1335-0417, the oldest known spiral galaxy...

The plains lark (Corypha kabalii) is one of the least-known lark species in the world. Image credit: Per Alström.

New Study Reveals Unexpected Species Diversity in African Larks

Dec 26, 2023 by Natali Anderson

The species complex comprising the rufous-naped lark (Corypha africana), the Sharpe’s lark (Corypha sharpii), the red-winged lark (Corypha hypermetra),...

This Hubble image shows four spiral galaxies in the constellation of Horologium: the large, prominent spiral galaxy on the right side of the image is NGC 1356; the two apparently smaller spiral galaxies flanking it are LEDA 467699 (above it) and LEDA 95415 (very close at its left) respectively; and finally, IC 1947 sits along the left side of the image. Image credit: NASA / ESA / Hubble / J. Dalcanton, Dark Energy Survey / DOE / FNAL / NOIRLab / NSF / AURA / L. Shatz.

Hubble Spots Four Spiral Galaxies in Horologium

Dec 26, 2023 by Enrico de Lazaro

A stunning new image from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope shows a collection of galaxies — NGC 1356, LEDA 467699, LEDA 95415 and IC 1947 —...

Life reconstruction of Meilifeilong youhao. Image credit: Maurilio Oliveira.

New Species of Toothless Pterosaur Discovered in China

Dec 25, 2023 by Enrico de Lazaro

Paleontologists from China and Brazil have identified a new species of chaoyangopterid pterosaur from two specimens, one of which is the most complete...

An artistic reconstruction of Ferussina petofiana. Image credit: Márton Zsoldos.

72-Million-Year-Old Snail Fossil Uncovered in Romania

Dec 22, 2023 by Enrico de Lazaro

A new species of the extinct land snail genus Ferussina has been identified from a complete specimen found in Hațeg Basin, Romania. An artistic reconstruction...

This image of the asteroid Ryugu was captured by the Optical Navigation Camera - Telescopic (ONC-T) on JAXA’s Hayabusa-2 spacecraft on June 26, 2018, from a distance of 13.7 miles (22 km). Image credit: JAXA / University of Tokyo / Kochi University / Rikkyo University / Nagoya University / Chiba Institute of Technology / Meiji University / Aizu University / AIST.

Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons in Asteroids Predate Our Solar System, New Study Shows

Dec 22, 2023 by Enrico de Lazaro

Astronomical observations show that polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are abundant and widespread in the interstellar medium. PAH molecules consist...

These NIRCam/Webb images show the multiply-imaged supernova Encore in the distant galaxy MRG-M0138. Two images of Encore (circled) are seen here, but an additional supernova image is expected to become visible around 2035. Image credit: NASA / ESA / CSA / STScI / Justin Pierel, STScI / Andrew Newman, Carnegie Institution for Science.

Webb Discovers Gravitationally-Lensed Supernova 10 Billion Light-Years from Earth

Dec 22, 2023 by News Staff

A Type Ia supernova named Encore is the second multiply-imaged supernova detected in MRG-M0138, a galaxy around 10 billion light-years away in the constellation...

This Hubble image shows Saturn, its bright white rings, and its three moons: Mimas, Dione, and Enceladus; spoke features on the left and right sides of the rings appear like faint gray smudges against the rings’ bright backdrop, about midway from the planet to the rings’ outer edge. Image credit: NASA / ESA / Hubble / STScI / Amy Simon, NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center.

Hubble Space Telescope Spots ‘Spokes’ in Saturn’s Rings

Dec 21, 2023 by News Staff

The gas giant Saturn is known for its iconic ring system. However, its B ring can have splotches and streaks of darker or lighter material, known as spokes,...

The Running Chicken Nebula comprises several clouds, all of which we can see in this OmegaCAM/VST image. Image credit: ESO / VPHAS+ Team / CASU.

OmegaCAM Snaps Best Ever Image of Running Chicken Nebula

Dec 21, 2023 by Enrico de Lazaro

Astronomers using the OmegaCAM instrument on ESO’s VLT Survey Telescope (VST) have captured the 1.5-billion-pixel image of a vast stellar nursery called...

Limnonectes phyllofolia. Image credit: Frederick et al., doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0292598.

New Species of Tiny Fanged Frog Discovered in Indonesia

Dec 21, 2023 by Natali Anderson

Biologists have discovered a new species of the terrestrially-nesting fanged frog genus Limnonectes living on Sulawesi Island, Indonesia. The species has...

An artist’s impression of FRB 110523 reaching Earth; the colors represent the burst arriving at different radio wavelengths, with long wavelengths (red) arriving seconds after short wavelengths (blue). Image credit: Jingchuan Yu / Beijing Planetarium.

Astronomers Detect Highly Active Repeating Fast Radio Burst

Dec 21, 2023 by News Staff

FRB 20220912A is a repeating fast radio burst that was discovered in 2022 and remained highly active for several months. Using the recently refurbished...

Enceladus’ tiger stripes are known to be spewing ice from the moon’s icy interior into space, creating a cloud of fine ice particles over the moon’s south pole and creating Saturn’s mysterious E-ring. Evidence for this has come from NASA’s Cassini spacecraft that orbited Saturn from 2004 to 2017. Pictured here, a high resolution image of Enceladus is shown from a close flyby. Tiger stripes are visible in false-color blue. Image credit: NASA / ESA / JPL / SSI / Cassini Imaging Team.

Enceladus’ Surface May Contain Relatively High Abundances of Pristine Organic Material

Dec 21, 2023 by News Staff

Enceladus, the sixth-biggest moon of Saturn, presents a remarkable opportunity in our Solar System for searching for evidence of extraterrestrial life,...

This Hubble image shows UGC 8091, a dwarf irregular galaxy some 7 million light-years away in the constellation of Virgo. The color image was made from separate exposures taken with Hubble’s Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS) and Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC3). Image credit: NASA / ESA / Hubble / Yumi Choi, NSF’s NOIRLab / Karoline Gilbert, STScI / Julianne Dalcanton, Center for Computational Astrophysics & Flatiron Institute, University of Washington.

Hubble Takes Close Look at UGC 8091

Dec 20, 2023 by Enrico de Lazaro

The Hubble team has released a close-up image of the dwarf irregular galaxy UGC 8091, which resembles a sparkling festive snow globe. This Hubble image...

A computer screen shows Taters the cat in a still from the first high-definition streaming video to be sent via laser from deep space, as well as the incoming data stream delivering the frames from the video. Image credit: NASA.

NASA Streams Cat Video from Deep Space via Laser

Dec 20, 2023 by News Staff

A 15-second ultra-high-definition video, featuring a cat named Taters, was streamed via laser from a record-setting 31 million km (19 million miles, or...

Map of Sahul showing the extent of the now-submerged continental shelf (dark gray), with the area of the Northwest Shelf demarcated by a dashed black box, and the present-day distribution of the Köppen climate groups (seasonal precipitation and temperature) showing the extent of modern-day Australia and New Guinea. The tropical distribution of Late Pleistocene sites containing early axe technology are shown as black circles, sites without early axe technology as gray circles, and sites demonstrating Late Pleistocene occupation of the now submerged continental shelves as white circles. Image credit: Peter Hiscock / Norman et al., doi: 10.1016/j.quascirev.2023.108418.

Up To Half Million People Once Lived on Now-Submerged Northwest Shelf of Sahul

Dec 20, 2023 by News Staff

The new-submerged Northwest Shelf of Sahul — the combined landmass of Australia and New Guinea at times of lower sea level — was a vast area...

This composite image shows the young star cluster NGC 2264, also known as the Christmas Tree Cluster. Image credit: NASA / CXC / SAO / T.A. Rector, NRAO, AUI, NSF, NOIRLab & AURA / B.A. Wolpa, NOIRLab, NSF & AURA / IPAC / Caltech / Universe of Massachusetts / L. Frattare / J.Major.

Astronomers Release Stunning Image of ‘Christmas Tree’ Star Cluster

Dec 20, 2023 by News Staff

The ‘Christmas Tree Cluster,’ also known as NGC 2264, is located approximately 2,600 light-years away in the constellation of Monoceros. This composite...

Human colonization and associated bird extinctions: human expansion across the planet is classified into four major waves; major human dispersal routes are indicated with arrows, and silhouettes show example fossil (pre-Holocene - 1500 CE) and observed (1500 CE - present) bird extinctions. Image credit: Cooke et al., doi: 10.1038/s41467-023-43445-2.

Humans May Have Led to Extinction of At Least 1,300 Bird Species since Pleistocene: Study

Dec 20, 2023 by News Staff

Birds are among the best-studied animal groups, but their prehistoric diversity is poorly known due to low fossilization potential. Hence, while many human-driven...

Gremlin slobodorum. Image credit: Ddinodan / Sci.News.

New Herbivorous Dinosaur Species Identified in Canada

Dec 19, 2023 by Enrico de Lazaro

Paleontologists have found the fossil of a previously unknown species of leptoceratopsid dinosaur that lived more than 70 million years ago in what is...

This Hubble image shows the galaxy cluster SDSS J1226+2152. Image credit: NASA / ESA / CSA / Webb / J. Rigby / JWST TEMPLATES Team.

Webb Focuses on Gravitationally-Lensing Galaxy Cluster

Dec 19, 2023 by Enrico de Lazaro

SDSS J1226+2152, a huge galaxy cluster in the constellation of Coma Berenices, acts as a strong gravitational lens, causing light from distant galaxies...

© 2011-2026. Sci.News. All Rights Reserved. | Back to top