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Astronomer Uses Bayesian Statistics to Weigh Likelihood of Complex Life and Intelligence beyond Earth

Kipping uses Bayesian statistics to shed light on how extraterrestrial life might evolve in the Universe. Image credit: Dina Dee.
May 19, 2020 by News Staff

In a new study published this week in the Proceeding of the National Academy of Sciences, Dr. David Kipping of Columbia University and Flatiron Institute used a statistical technique called Bayesian inference to estimate the odds of complex life and intelligence emerging beyond Earth. Kipping uses Bayesian statistics to shed light on how extraterrestrial life might evolve in the Universe. Image credit: Dina Dee. A fundamental question to modern science...

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A range of now extinct megafauna that was present when humans first arrived in Australia. Image credit: Peter Trusler, Monash University.

Extreme Climate Change Caused Extinction of Megafauna in Australia and New Guinea

May 19, 2020 by News Staff

Extreme environmental change was the most likely cause of extinction of megafauna in Sahul, the supercontinent formed by Australia and New Guinea during...

Water vapor plumes on Jupiter’s icy moon Europa. Image credit: David Ladd, USRA & NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center.

Study Provides Additional Evidence for Water Vapor Plumes on Europa

May 19, 2020 by News Staff

NASA’s Galileo spacecraft encountered an active water plume during a flyby of Jupiter’s icy moon Europa in 2000, according to a new study published...

Life reconstruction of the first Australian elaphrosaur. Image credit: Ruairidh Duncan.

New Dinosaur Unearthed in Australia

May 18, 2020 by Enrico de Lazaro

Paleontologists in Australia have found a fossilized vertebra from an elaphrosaurine theropod dinosaur that walked the Earth 110 million years ago (Cretaceous...

An artist’s impression of the super-Earth exoplanet HD 164922d. Image credit: Sci-News.com.

Hot Super-Earth Discovered Orbiting Ancient Star

May 18, 2020 by Natali Anderson

An international team of astronomers has discovered a close-in super-Earth exoplanet in the HD 164922 planetary system. An artist’s impression of the...

Colorized scanning electron micrograph of a VERO E6 cell (purple) exhibiting elongated cell projections and signs of apoptosis, after infection with SARS-CoV-2 virus particles (pink), which were isolated from a patient sample. Image credit: NIAID.

New Antibody Completely Neutralizes SARS-CoV-2 Coronavirus

May 18, 2020 by News Staff

A team of researchers from Sorrento Therapeutics, Inc. has isolated a new antibody that completely inhibits the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus virus in cell culture. Colorized...

This Hubble image shows the isolated dwarf galaxy ESO 461-036. This image is made up of observations from Hubble’s Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC3) and Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS) in the infrared and optical parts of the spectrum. Four 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 / E. Shaya et al.

Hubble Spots Lonely Dwarf Galaxy

May 18, 2020 by Enrico de Lazaro

The NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope has captured a striking new photo of a dwarf irregular galaxy called ESO 461-036. This Hubble image shows the isolated...

This image of Jupiter was taken on February 17, 2020 as Juno performed its 25th close flyby of the gas giant. At the time the image was taken, the spacecraft was 25,120 km (15,610 miles) from the planet’s cloud tops at a latitude of about 71 degrees North. Image credit: NASA / JPL / SwRI / MSSS / Gerald Eichstaedt.

Juno Sees Jupiter’s Northern High-Altitude Hazes

May 18, 2020 by Enrico de Lazaro

NASA’s Juno orbiter captured a beautiful image during its 25th close flyby of Jupiter in February 2020. This image of Jupiter was taken on February 17,...

Hawaiian Volcano Puhahonu is Earth’s Biggest and Hottest Shield Volcano

May 15, 2020 by News Staff

Pūhāhonu (‘turtle rising for breath’ in Hawaiian), a 13-million-year-old volcano in the northwest Hawaiian Ridge, is twice the size of Mauna Loa...

The 1,890-year-old bronze coin, obverse. Image credit: Koby Harati, City of David Archive.

Israeli Archaeologists Find Rare Bar Kokhba Revolt Coin

May 15, 2020 by News Staff

Archaeologists from the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) have uncovered a rare bronze coin from the period of the Bar Kokhba Revolt. The obverse of this...

These two columns show side-by-side comparisons of gravitational lens candidates imaged by the Dark Energy Camera Legacy Survey (color) and the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope (black and white). Image credit: Dark Energy Camera Legacy Survey / NASA / ESA / Hubble / Huang et al.

Astronomers Discover Hundreds of New Strong Gravitational Lenses

May 15, 2020 by News Staff

Using data from the Dark Energy Camera Legacy Survey (DECaLS), astronomers have discovered 335 new candidate strong lensing systems. These two columns...

A Malayan pangolin (Manis javanica) climbing a lychee tree. Image credit: Jinping Chen.

SARS-CoV-2 Coronavirus Didn’t Come from Pangolins, Scientists Say

May 15, 2020 by Enrico de Lazaro

A team of researchers from China and the United States has sequenced the genome of pangolin-CoV-2020, a coronavirus isolated from sick Malayan pangolins...

Daspletosaurus chasing Spinops. Image credit: Julius Csotonyi.

Study: Giant Carnivorous Dinosaurs were Optimized for Energy-Efficient Walking

May 14, 2020 by News Staff

Non-avian theropod dinosaurs like Tyrannosaurus rex relied less on speed, more on energy-saving, according to a new study published in the journal PLoS...

An artist’s impression of a Delta Scuti star. Image credit: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center.

TESS Detects Elusive Pulsation Patterns in Delta Scuti Stars

May 14, 2020 by News Staff

Astronomers using NASA’s Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) have detected pulsation patterns in the so-called Delta Scuti stars, a large group...

Seven New Species of Australian Peacock Spiders Discovered

May 14, 2020 by Natali Anderson

Museums Victoria arachnologist Joseph Schubert has described seven new species of the peacock spider genus Maratus from Australia. Maratus azureus. Image...

Uintacrinus socialis from the Niobrara Formation, Kansas, United States. Image credit: James St. John / CC BY 2.0.

Paleontologists Find Strange Ball-Like Structures in 80-Million-Year-Old Fossils

May 14, 2020 by Enrico de Lazaro

A team of paleontologists from Australia and the UK has found fullerene-like structures in Cretaceous-period crinoids, marine animals related to starfish,...

This image from ESA’s Mars Express shows a beautiful slice of the Red Planet from the northern polar cap downwards, and highlights cratered, pockmarked swathes of the Terra Sabaea and Arabia Terra regions. It comprises data gathered on June 17, 2019. This image was created using data from the nadir and color channels of Mars Express’ High Resolution Stereo Camera. The nadir channel is aligned perpendicular to the surface of Mars, as if looking straight down at the surface. North is up. Image credit: ESA / DLR / FU Berlin.

Pockets of Salty Water May Exist on Present-Day Mars

May 14, 2020 by News Staff

A new study shows that pockets of brine can form and persist from the equator to high latitudes on the Martian surface for a few percent of the year for...

Comet SWAN makes its closest approach to Earth on May 13, 2020, at a distance of 85 million km (53 million miles); its closest approach to the Sun, called perihelion, will happen on May 27, 2020. Image credit: NASA / ESA / SOHO.

SOHO Discovers New Comet: C/2020 F8 (SWAN)

May 13, 2020 by News Staff

Officially classified C/2020 F8 (SWAN) but nicknamed comet SWAN, the new comet was first spotted in April 2020 by Australian amateur astronomer Michael...

Yang & Song found that refracted waves (blue), rather than reflected waves (purple) change over time, providing the best evidence yet that Earth’s inner core is rotating. Image credit: Michael Vincent.

Earth’s Inner Core is Rotating, Study Says

May 13, 2020 by News Staff

The inner core of the Earth is rotating at about 0.05-0.1 degrees per year, according to an analysis of seismic data from repeating earthquakes published...

Göbekli Tepe, Enclosure C: note the discontinuity of the bench between the southern pillars and the additional construction built against the southern part of the inner peripheral wall. Image credit: Haklay & Gopher, doi: 10.1017/S0959774319000660.

Gobekli Tepe: Geometry Guided Construction of 11,500-Year-Old Megalithic Complex

May 13, 2020 by News Staff

New research from Tel Aviv University sheds light on the building history of monumental structures in the main area of Göbekli Tepe, a Neolithic site...

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