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Feng et al. report a substantial step towards the dense representation of avian phylogenetic and molecular diversity, by analyzing 363 genomes from 92.4% of bird families. Image credit: Jon Fjeldsa / Josefin Stiller / University of Copenhagen.

Researchers Sequence Genomes of 363 Bird Species

Nov 12, 2020 by News Staff

Scientists from the Bird 10,000 Genomes Project have successfully sequenced and analyzed the genomes of a total of 363 bird species from 92.4% (218 out...

The Popa langur (Trachypithecus popa). Image credit: Thaung Win.

New Species of Primate Discovered in Myanmar

Nov 12, 2020 by News Staff

An international team of biologists and taxonomists has discovered a new species in the langur genus Trachypithecus living in the forests of Myanmar. The...

3-Million-Year-Old Fossil from New Zealand Rewrites Evolutionary History of True Seals

Nov 12, 2020 by Enrico de Lazaro

Living true seals are the most widely dispersed semi-aquatic marine mammals, and comprise geographically separate northern and southern groups. Both are...

These illustrations show three versions of a rocky planet with different amounts of internal heating from radioactive elements. The middle planet is Earth-like, with plate tectonics and an internal dynamo generating a magnetic field. The top planet, with more radiogenic heating, has extreme volcanism but no dynamo or magnetic field. The bottom planet, with less radiogenic heating, is geologically ‘dead,’ with no volcanism. Image credit: Melissa Weiss.

Internal Heating from Radioactive Elements May Be Crucial to Planet Habitability, Study Says

Nov 12, 2020 by News Staff

The thermal evolution of rocky planets depends on the heat input from three long-lived radiogenic elements: potassium, thorium, and uranium. Concentrations...

Paxman et al. mapped a huge ancient lake basin (outlined here in red) below the Greenland ice; redder colors signify higher elevations, green ones lower; a stream system incised into the bedrock that once fed the lake is shown in blue. Image credit: Paxman et al., doi: 10.1016/j.epsl.2020.116647.

Giant Ancient Lake Bed Discovered Deep under Greenland Ice Sheet

Nov 11, 2020 by News Staff

A team of scientists from Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory at Columbia University has discovered paleolake basin situated beneath the ice sheet in northwest...

Schematic layout of the KEK Isotope Separation System. Image credit: Wako Nuclear Science Centre, High Energy Accelerator Research Organization.

Physicists Produce World’s First Beam of Neutron-Rich, Radioactive Tantalum Ions

Nov 11, 2020 by News Staff

Using a new mass-separator of radioactive isotopes, called the KEK Isotope Separation System (KISS), which is developed and operated by the Wako Nuclear...

An artist’s impression of the azhdarchids pterosaur Alanqa saharica. Image credit: Davide Bonadonna.

New Pterosaur Species Found Hiding in Plain Sight in Museum

Nov 11, 2020 by News Staff

A new re-examination of fossil material housed in the Sedgwick Museum of Cambridge and the Booth Museum at Brighton has revealed the fossilized jaw fragments...

This artist’s conception of Europa shows a hypothesized cryovolcanic eruption, in which briny water from within the icy shell blasts into space. Image credit: Justice Blaine Wainwright.

Europa’s Plumes May Originate from Near-Surface Brine Reservoirs, Not Global Ocean

Nov 11, 2020 by News Staff

Europa, the sixth of Jupiter’s moons and the fourth largest, has a subsurface ocean covered by an icy shell. Despite evidence for plumes on the icy moon,...

Walnut consumption may be associated with lower cardiovascular disease risk. Image credit: Nicky Pe.

Walnut-Rich Diet May Reduce Risk of Cardiovascular Disease

Nov 11, 2020 by News Staff

Regular consumption of walnuts in older adults may lower the risk of cardiovascular disease by reducing the concentration of certain inflammatory biomarkers,...

As the Universe evolves, matter concentrations are surrounded by gas halos getting hotter and bigger. Image credit: D. Nelson / Illustris Collaboration.

Universe is Getting Hotter, Says New Study

Nov 10, 2020 by News Staff

The mean temperature of gas across the Universe has increased more than 10 times over the last 10 billion years and reached about 2 million Kelvin today,...

The young Mars would have had enough water to cover its entire surface in a liquid layer about 140 m deep, but it is more likely that the liquid would have pooled to form an ocean occupying almost half of Mars’s northern hemisphere, and in some regions reaching depths greater than 1.6 km. Image credit: M. Kornmesser / ESO / N. Risinger, skysurvey.org.

Water Present on All Rocky Planets, Martian Meteorite Study Suggests

Nov 10, 2020 by News Staff

Water may emerge in connection with the formation of terrestrial planets, according to a new analysis of a Martian meteorite called North West Africa (NWA)...

Paranthropus boisei. Image credit: © Roman Yevseyev.

2-Million-Year-Old Skull of Paranthropus robustus Suggests Climate Change Drove Rapid Changes

Nov 10, 2020 by News Staff

Paranthropus robustus is a small-brained extinct hominin that lived between 2 million and 1.2 million years ago in what is now South Africa. Discovered...

This illustration of Jupiter’s moon Europa shows how its icy surface may glow on its nightside. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech.

Europa’s Icy Surface Glows in the Dark, New Study Suggests

Nov 10, 2020 by News Staff

Jupiter’s icy moon Europa is bombarded by a constant and intense blast of radiation from the gas giant. Different salty compounds on the moon’s surface...

This artist's impression shows the exoplanet Corot-7b, which is so close to its Sun-like host star that it must experience extreme conditions. Image credit: ESO / L. Calcada.

Weather Forecast for Lava Planet K2-141b: Rock Rains and Supersonic Winds

Nov 10, 2020 by News Staff

Using computer simulations, an international team of astronomers has studied the weather conditions on K2-141b, an Earth-size exoplanet with supersonic...

An artist’s impression of BDR J1750+3809. Image credit: Danielle Futselaar / ASTRON.

LOFAR Radio Telescope Directly Detects New Brown Dwarf

Nov 9, 2020 by News Staff

Astronomers using the Low-Frequency Array (LOFAR) radio telescope have discovered a new brown dwarf, a substellar object not quite massive enough to fuse...

Petauroides volans, the southern species of the greater glider. Image credit: Steven Kuiter.

Australia’s Greater Glider is Actually Three Different Species

Nov 9, 2020 by Natali Anderson

The greater glider (Petauroides volans), a large, nocturnal gliding marsupial endemic to Australia, isn’t one species, but rather three distinct ones. Petauroides...

An artist’s impression of the SGR 1935+2154 magnetar in outburst, showing complex magnetic field structure and beamed emission. Image credit: McGill University Graphic Design Team.

Fast Radio Burst Detected from Magnetar in Milky Way

Nov 9, 2020 by News Staff

Astronomers using the CHIME (Canadian Hydrogen Intensity Mapping Experiment) and FAST (Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical radio Telescope) telescopes...

Early hunter-gatherer females were big-game hunters. Image credit: Matthew Verdolivo / UC Davis / IET Academic Technology Services.

Early Hunter-Gatherer Females Hunted Big-Game Animals

Nov 9, 2020 by News Staff

Archaeological excavations at the site of Wilamaya Patjxa in the high Peruvian Andes have revealed a 9,000-year-old female burial associated with a big-game...

This Hubble image shows the strong-lensing galaxy cluster SDSS J0901+1814. The lensed star-forming galaxy LRG-3-817 is seen as a long arc to the left of the cluster’s central galaxy. The color image was made from separate exposures taken in the visible and infrared regions of the spectrum with Hubble’s Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC3). Five 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: Hubble / ESA / NASA / S. Allam et al.

Massive Cluster’s Gravity Magnifies Light from Extremely Distant Star-Forming Galaxy

Nov 9, 2020 by Enrico de Lazaro

SDSS J0901+1814, a giant galaxy cluster located 3.9 billion light-years away in the constellation of Cancer, is so massive that its gravity distorts and...