Page 235 | Sci.News: Breaking Science News

Sagittarius B2 is a giant molecular cloud of gas and dust that is located about 390 light-years from the center of the Milky Way Galaxy. Sagittarius B2 is the bright orange-red region to the middle left of the image, which is centered on the Galactic center. Image credit: ESO / APEX / MSX / IPAC / NASA.

Propionamide Detected in Space for First Time

Aug 23, 2021 by Natali Anderson

Propionamide (C2H5CONH2), a complex alkyl amide with twelve atoms, is the largest peptide-like molecule detected in space, according to a new study led...

An artist’s reconstruction of Ctenorhabdotus campanelliformis (top) and Thalassostaphylos elegans (bottom). Image credit: Holly Sullivan.

Cambrian Comb Jellies Had More Complex Neuroanatomy than Living Species

Aug 23, 2021 by News Staff

Paleontologists have described two new species from the Cambrian period of Utah, which illuminate the early evolution of nervous and sensory features in...

Dacheng Lin et al discovered a ‘wandering’ black hole in the lenticular galaxy GJ1417+52. The main panel has a wide-field, optical light image from Hubble. The black hole and its host galaxy are located within the box in the upper left. The inset on the left contains Hubble’s close-up view of GJ1417+52. Within this inset the circle shows a point-like source on the northern outskirts of the galaxy that may be associated with XJ1417+52. The inset on the right is Chandra’s X-ray image of XJ1417+52 in purple, covering the same region as the Hubble close-up. Image credit: X-ray – NASA / CXC / UNH / Dacheng Lin et al; optical – NASA / STScI.

Wandering Supermassive Black Holes May Be More Abundant than Previously Thought

Aug 23, 2021 by News Staff

New research led by astronomers from the Harvard & Smithsonian’s Center for Astrophysics shows that the current census of supermassive black holes...

Scotty is the largest dinosaur skeleton ever found in Canada. Image credit: Amanda Kelley.

Tyrannosaurus rex’s Jaw Tip May Have Played Essential Role as Sensitive Tactile Sensor

Aug 23, 2021 by News Staff

Paleontologists have analyzed the morphology of the neurovascular canal in the well-preserved jaw of Tyrannosaurus rex using computed tomography techniques....

This Hubble image shows NGC 2164, a young open cluster located some 160,000 light-years away in the constellation of Dorado. The color image is made up of observations from Hubble’s Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC3) in the ultraviolet, near-infrared, and optical parts of the spectrum. It is based on data obtained through four filters. The color results from assigning different hues to each monochromatic image associated with an individual filter. Image credit: NASA / ESA / Hubble / J. Kalirai / Milone.

Hubble Space Telescope Images NGC 2164

Aug 23, 2021 by Enrico de Lazaro

A new image taken with the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope provides a detailed look at an open cluster known as NGC 2164. This Hubble image shows NGC 2164,...

Mindfulness-based programs primarily target improved mental health and wellbeing.

Mindfulness May Provide Small But Significant Benefits to Cognition

Aug 20, 2021 by News Staff

While mindfulness is typically geared towards improving mental health and wellbeing, it may also provide additional benefits to brain health, according...

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.

Bat Pups Babble Like Human Infants, Researchers Find

Aug 20, 2021 by News Staff

Babbling is a production milestone in infant speech development. Evidence for babbling in non-human mammals is scarce. In a new study, researchers from...

Earth’s magnetic field lines. Image credit: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center.

Study Provides Further Evidence of 200-Million-Year-Long Cycle in Strength of Earth’s Magnetic Field

Aug 20, 2021 by News Staff

New research shows that the magnetic field of our planet was relatively weak (less than half the strength of the long-term average field) for tens of millions...

This pair of Hubble images of comet C/2019 Y4 (ATLAS), taken on April 20 and April 23, 2020, reveal the breakup of the solid nucleus of the comet. Image credit: NASA / ESA / Quanzhi Ye, University of Maryland / Alyssa Pagan, STScI.

Comet ATLAS May Be Broken-Off Piece of Larger, More Ancient Visitor

Aug 20, 2021 by News Staff

The near-Sun comet C/2019 Y4 (ATLAS) is the first member of a long-period comet group observed to disintegrate well before its closest approach to the...

A compilation of the new science results from LOFAR. Image credit: Ramírez-Olivencia et al. / NASA, ESA / Hubble Heritage Team / STScI / AURA / A. Evans, University of Virginia, Charlottesville / NRAO / Stony Brook University / R. Cumming / C. Groeneveld / R. Timmerman / LOFAR / Kukreti / Sloan Digital Sky Survey / A. Kappes / F. Sweijen / DESI Legacy Imaging Survey / S. Badole / L. Calcada / W.L. Williams.

LOFAR Captures Most Detailed Images Ever Seen of Distant Galaxies

Aug 19, 2021 by News Staff

Using data from the Low Frequency Array (LOFAR), a radio telescope that operates at frequencies between 10 and 240 MHz and consists of 52 stations spread...

Key features of the common seadragon (Phyllopteryx taeniolatus) and the alligator pipefish (Syngnathoides biaculeatus) and their phylogenetic positions: (A) the common seadragon has a dragon-shaped body with many special leaf-like appendages and long tubular snout lacking teeth; common seadragon males incubate eggs on a brood patch on the underside of the tail; (B) a male alligator pipefish showing eggs incubated on a brood patch on the underside of trunk; (C) phylogenetic tree of 19 ray-finned fishes. Image credit: Qu et al., doi: 10.1126/sciadv.abg5196.

Scientists Sequence Seadragon and Pipefish Genomes

Aug 19, 2021 by News Staff

A team of researchers from Germany, China, Singapore, Belgium, and Japan has successfully sequenced and analyzed male and female genomes of the common...

This image, captured by CSIRO’s ASKAP radio telescope, shows the Large Magellanic Cloud. Image credit: Pennock et al., doi: 10.1093/mnras/stab1858.

Astronomers Create New Radio Map of Large Magellanic Cloud

Aug 19, 2021 by News Staff

Astronomers using CSIRO’s Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder (ASKAP) radio telescope have observed the Large Magellanic Cloud, a small satellite...

Snyder et al. show that distinct populations of phagocytic cells in cauliflower corals (Pocillopora damicornis) and starlet sea anemones (Nematostella vectensis) engulf bacteria, fungal antigens, and beads. The image shows a cauliflower coral cell challenged with Staphylococcus aureus. Yellow arrow shows an internalized, pH-activated Staphylococcus aureus particle that fluoresces bright green at a low pH. White arrows indicate the cocci bacterial particles. Staphylococcus aureus particles are fluorescent after the fusion of the bacteria with the lysolitic vesicle, which leads to lowered pH. Scale bar - 10 μm. Image credit: Snyder et al., doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2021.662803.

Marine Biologists Find Live Immune Cells in Corals and Sea Anemones

Aug 19, 2021 by News Staff

Corals and sea anemones have at least two populations of immune cells and that these specialized cells make up about 3% of the total cell population, according...

The ‘Gould’ violin by Antonio Stradivari.

Stradivari and Guarneri Treated Soundboards with Various Chemicals, Study Shows

Aug 18, 2021 by News Staff

Two renowned violin makers from Cremona, Italy, Antonio Stradivari and Giuseppe Guarneri ‘del Gesù,’ treated their instruments with various chemicals...

Stretching 3,300 light-years, a collection of young stars and star-forming clouds in the Sagittarius arm of our Milky Way Galaxy is the first major structure identified with such a dramatically different orientation relative to an arm. The background image shows the location of the splinter in the Milky Way. The yellow region in the center of the image is the Galaxy’s bright and crowded center. The Milky Way’s arms spiral around the center, and are full of stars and star-forming clouds of gas and dust. The inset provides a closer view of the structure, as well as its size and distance from the Sun. The nearby spiral arms are also noted. The star shapes indicate a star-forming region that may contain anywhere from dozens to thousands of stars. These stars and star-forming regions are moving through space together, at roughly the same speed and in the same direction. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech.

3,300-Light-Year-Long Linear Structure Spotted in Milky Way’s Sagittarius Arm

Aug 18, 2021 by News Staff

Astrophysicists have mapped the 3D locations and velocities of star-forming regions in a segment of the Sagittarius arm using data from NASA’s Spitzer...

Left to right: Conacodon hettingeri, Miniconus jeanninae, and Beornus honeyi. Image credit: Banana Art Studio.

Three New Species of Primitive Ungulate Ancestors Identified

Aug 18, 2021 by News Staff

Paleontologists have identified three new species of placental mammals called condylarths (archaic ungulates) from fossils found in Wyoming, the United...

This false-color image shows the dwarf planet Ceres. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / UCLA / MPS / DLR / IDA.

Crust of Dwarf Planet Ceres is Rich in Water Ice, New Research Confirms

Aug 18, 2021 by News Staff

Using high spatial-resolution data gathered by the Gamma Ray and Neutron Detector (GRaND) aboard NASA’s Dawn spacecraft, planetary researchers have detected...

Hantak et al. tested three hypotheses of body size variation across urbanization gradients: urban heat island effects, habitat fragmentation, and resource availability. Image credit: TeeFarm.

Urbanization is Causing Mammals to Grow Bigger, New Study Says

Aug 18, 2021 by News Staff

A research team led by Florida Museum of Natural History scientists has compiled 140,499 body size records of over 100 North American mammals to test how...

This artist’s concept depicts the dry environment seen at Mars today versus the early Martian environment. Image credit: Simon Fraser University.

Regional Dust Storms Enhance Martian Water Loss to Space: Study

Aug 17, 2021 by News Staff

Individual regional dust events can boost planetary water loss by a factor of five to ten and represent an important driver of atmospheric evolution on...