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Hubble Detects Free-Floating Compact Object 5,000 Light-Years Away

The star-filled sky in this Hubble photo lies in the direction of the Galactic center. The light from stars is monitored to see if any change in their apparent brightness is caused by a foreground object drifting in front of them. The warping of space by the interloper would momentarily brighten the appearance of a background star, an effect called gravitational lensing. One such event, OB110462, is shown in the four close-up frames at the bottom. The arrow points to a star that momentarily brightened, as first captured by Hubble in August 2011. This was caused by a foreground black hole drifting in front of the star, along our line of sight. The star brightened and then subsequently faded back to its normal brightness as the black hole passed by. Because a black hole doesn’t emit or reflect light, it cannot be directly observed. But its unique thumbprint on the fabric of space can be measured through these so-called microlensing events. Image credit: NASA / ESA / Hubble / K. Sahu, STScI / J. DePasquale, STScI.
Jun 13, 2022 by Enrico de Lazaro

Astronomers have for the first time discovered what may be an isolated stellar-mass black hole using the astrometric microlensing technique. They estimate that the mass of the invisible object is between 1.6 and 4.4 solar masses. Because they think that the leftover remnant of a massive star must be heavier than 2.2 solar masses in order to collapse to a black hole, the researchers caution that the object could be a neutron star instead of a black...

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This artist’s impression shows a long umbilical scar on Psittacosaurus. Image credit: Jagged Fang Designs.

Some Non-Avian Dinosaurs Had ‘Belly Buttons,’ New Fossil Shows

Jun 13, 2022 by News Staff

In egg-laying amniotes (reptiles, birds and monotremes), the developing embryo is tethered to a number of the extraembryonic membranes that deliver oxygen...

Ancyromonas sigmoides, an understudied microbe that holds enormous promise for investigations into the origin of eukaryotes. Image credit: Naoji Yubuki.

Chromatin First Evolved in Ancient Microbes 1-2 Billion Years Ago, New Research Suggests

Jun 13, 2022 by News Staff

Chromatin is the ensemble of genomic DNA and a large number of proteins. Despite its fundamental role in biology of eukaryotic cells, scientists lack a...

This Hubble image shows the globular cluster Terzan 9, a relic of a generation of long-lived stars that formed in the early Galaxy. The color image was made from separate exposures taken in the visible and infrared regions of the spectrum with Hubble’s Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS) and Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC3). Three filters were used to sample various wavelengths. The color results from assigning different hues to each monochromatic image associated with an individual filter. Image credit: NASA / ESA / Hubble / R. Cohen.

Hubble Spots Ancient Star Cluster near Milky Way’s Center

Jun 13, 2022 by Enrico de Lazaro

This new image from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope is one of the best ever views of Terzan 9, one of the most central globular clusters in our Milky...

Fernanda, the only known living Fernandina giant tortoise (Chelonoidis phantasticus), now lives at the Galápagos National Park’s Giant Tortoise Breeding Center on Santa Cruz Island. Image credit: Galápagos Conservancy.

Fernandina Island Tortoise Is Not Extinct, New Study Confirms

Jun 10, 2022 by News Staff

The status of the Fernandina Island Galapagos giant tortoise (Chelonoidis phantasticus) has been a mystery, with the species known from a single specimen...

An UAP from a declassified video captured by a U.S. Navy aircraft. Image credit: U.S. Navy.

NASA Creates Independent Team to Study UAPs

Jun 9, 2022 by News Staff

NASA’s independent study team will examine unidentified aerial phenomena (UAPs) from a scientific perspective. It will focus on identifying available...

In this composite image of Abell 2146, Chandra X-ray data (purple) shows hot gas, and Subaru Telescope optical data shows galaxies (red and white). Image credit: NASA / CXC / University of Nottingham / Russell et al. / NAOJ / Subaru Telescope.

Chandra Spots 1.6-Million-Light-Year-Long Shock Wave in Abell 2146

Jun 9, 2022 by News Staff

Abell 2146 is a pair of colliding galaxy clusters located approximately 2.8 billion light-years away in the constellation of Draco. In this composite image...

Ukrainian borsch. Image credit: Liz West / CC BY-SA 4.0.

Polyphenol- and Nitrate-Rich Foods May Boost Performance in Athletes

Jun 9, 2022 by News Staff

Consumption of polyphenol- and nitrate-rich foods, such as the beetroot, the bright-red veggie more often found in the Ukrainian borsch than a breakfast...

The International Bathymetric Chart of the Southern Ocean Version 2 (IBCSO v2) is a digital bathymetric model for the area south of 50° S with special emphasis on the bathymetry of the Southern Ocean. Image credit: Dorschel et al.

Scientists Create New High-Resolution Map of Southern Ocean

Jun 9, 2022 by News Staff

After nine years of gathering, cleaning, processing and interpolating data, an international team of researchers this week released the second version...

New Spinosaurid Dinosaur Unearthed on Isle of Wight

Jun 9, 2022 by Enrico de Lazaro

Dubbed the ‘White Rock spinosaurid,’ the new dinosaur is ‘one of Europe’s largest ever land-based hunters.’ Life reconstruction of the White...

The western honeybee (Apis mellifera). Image credit: David Hablützel.

New Zealand Honeydew Honey Has Excellent Antioxidant Properties, Study Shows

Jun 8, 2022 by Sergio Prostak

A team of researchers at the Auckland University of Technology has profiled the chemical composition of New Zealand honeydew honey and compared its antioxidant...

Reconstruction of the paleoecosystem of the Upper Cretaceous Bahariya Formation of the Bahariya Oasis, Western Desert of Egypt, showing diversity of large-bodied theropod dinosaurs. In the foreground, the unidentified abelisaurid described herein (right) confronts the spinosaurid Spinosaurus aegyptiacus (left center, with the lungfish Retodus tuberculatus in jaws) and the carcharodontosaurid Carcharodontosaurus saharicus (right center) while two individuals of the stomatosuchid crocodyliform Stomatosuchus inermis (left) look on. In the background, a herd of the titanosaurian sauropod Paralititan stromeri (left) warily regards these theropods and two individuals of the bahariasaurid Bahariasaurus ingens (far right) while a small flock of an undescribed pterosaur soars above. The vegetation is dominated by the mangrove-like tree fern Weichselia reticulata. Image credit: Andrew McAfee, Carnegie Museum of Natural History.

Fossil of Previously Unknown Carnivorous Dinosaur Found in Egypt

Jun 8, 2022 by Enrico de Lazaro

Paleontologists have unearthed a well-preserved cervical vertebra of a medium-sized abelisaurid ceratosaur in the Bahariya Oasis of the Western Desert...

This visible-light image of Jupiter was created from data captured on January 11, 2017 using Hubble’s Wide Field Camera 3. Near the top, a long brown feature called a ‘brown barge’ extends 72,000 km (nearly 45,000 miles) in the east-west direction. The Great Red Spot stands out prominently in the lower left, while the smaller feature nicknamed Red Spot Jr. (known to Jovian scientists as Oval BA) appears to its lower right. Image credit: NASA / ESA / NOIRLab / NSF / AURA / Wong et al. / de Pater et al. / M. Zamani.

Jupiter’s Atmosphere is Inhomogeneous, New Study Suggests

Jun 8, 2022 by News Staff

While the massive atmosphere of Jupiter consists mainly of hydrogen and helium, the key to understanding the gas giant’s formation and evolution lies...

Aerial view of the excavations at the site of Kemune in the Kurdistan region of Iraq. Image credit: Universities of Freiburg and Tübingen, KAO.

Extreme Drought Reveals Submerged City of Mitanni Empire in Iraq

Jun 8, 2022 by News Staff

The 3,400-year-old settlement with a palace and several large buildings could be the ancient city of Zakhiku, believed to have been an important center...

An artist’s conception of a neutron star with an ultra-strong magnetic field, called a magnetar, emitting radio waves (red). Image credit: Bill Saxton, NRAO / AUI / NSF.

Astronomers Detect Repeating Fast Radio Burst Associated with Persistent Radio Emission

Jun 8, 2022 by News Staff

FRB 190520 is only the second example of a repeating fast radio burst with a compact source of persistent radio emission between bursts. An artist’s...

Geiseleptes delfinoi hunting a termite. Image credit: Márton Szabó.

Geckos Lived in Europe as Early as 47 Million Years Ago

Jun 7, 2022 by Enrico de Lazaro

Paleontologists have identified a new genus and species of ancient gecko from an articulated near-complete skull found in Germany. Geiseleptes delfinoi...

The ancient carved stone with the image of a phallus and graffiti found at the site of Vindolanda in Northumberland, England. Image credit: Vindolanda Trust.

1,700-Year-Old Graffiti Found at Vindolanda

Jun 7, 2022 by News Staff

Archaeologists have unearthed an ancient carved stone with the image of a phallus and graffiti at the site of Vindolanda, an ancient Roman military fort...

A patch of sky imaged by the 3D-DASH survey. Image credit: Mowla et al., doi: 10.3847/1538-4357/ac71af.

Hubble Captures Spectacular Near-Infrared Image Showing Early Universe

Jun 7, 2022 by News Staff

Astronomers from the 3D-Drift And SHift (3D-DASH) program have released the largest near-infrared image ever taken by the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope. A...

Bista et al. explored how the red panda (Ailurus fulgens), an iconic endangered habitat specialist, behaves when faced with disturbances and habitat fragmentation. Image credit: Damber Bista.

Red Panda is Being Driven Closer to Extinction, New Study Shows

Jun 7, 2022 by News Staff

Using GPS telemetry, scientists from the University of Queensland, the University of Southern Queensland and the Red Panda Network have monitored 10 red...

This image shows NGC 1087, a barred spiral galaxy some 80 million light-years away in the constellation of Cetus. Image credit: ESO / ALMA / NAOJ / NRAO / PHANGS.

Astronomers See Star-Forming Material in NGC 1087

Jun 7, 2022 by Enrico de Lazaro

As part of the Physics at High Angular resolution in Nearby GalaxieS (PHANGS) project, astronomers have taken a picture of a barred spiral galaxy called...

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