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Researchers Find Odor Receptors on Human Tongue

Apr 24, 2019 by News Staff

Functional olfactory receptors — the sensors that detect odors in the nose — are also present in taste cells found on the human tongue, according...

Several tens of thousands of particles spontaneously organize in a self-determined crystalline structure while sharing the same macroscopic wavefunction -- hallmarks of supersolidity. Image credit: University of Innsbruck.

Physicists Turn Quantum Gas into Supersolid

Apr 24, 2019 by News Staff

Predicted five decades ago, supersolidity is an exotic phase of matter where superfluidity and crystalline order coexist. By combining theory and experiments,...

An artist’s impression of the InSight lander on Mars. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech.

NASA’s InSight Lander Detects Its First Marsquake

Apr 24, 2019 by News Staff

The SEIS (Seismic Experiment for Interior Structure) instrument on NASA’s InSight lander detected the faint seismic signal on April 6, 2019, the lander’s...

Shively et al aimed to determine the effects of humanlike Western and Mediterranean diets on caloric intake, obesity, metabolism, and hepatosteatosis in an established nonhuman primate model of obesity. Image credit: Moira Nazzari.

Mediterranean Diet May Protect against Overeating and NAFLD

Apr 24, 2019 by News Staff

In a study on crab-eating macaques (Macaca fascicularis), a team of researchers at Wake Forest University found that the primates on a humanlike Mediterranean...

In order to make artificial nacre, Spiesz et al use bacteria to create alternating thin layers of crystalized calcium carbonate and sticky polymer. Image credit: J. Adam Fenster / University of Rochester.

Biologists Use Bacteria to Make Artificial Mother-of-Pearl

Apr 23, 2019 by News Staff

Natural materials such as tooth enamel, nacre (also known as mother-of-pearl), or bone attain their impressive mechanical properties from combining organic...

Development of a ‘bubble’ of lighter sand (blue) forming in heavier sand (white). Image credit: Alex Penn / ETH Zurich.

Scientists Observe Gravitational Instability in Which ‘Bubbles’ of Lighter Sand Form and Rise through Heavier Sand

Apr 23, 2019 by News Staff

Gravitational (Rayleigh-Taylor, or R-T) instabilities are produced by the interactions of two fluids of different densities that do not mix — oil...

A coelacanth. Image credit: Laurent Ballesta, Gombessa expeditions, Andromede Oceanology Lt.

Coelacanth Reveals Secrets of Vertebrate Skull Evolution

Apr 23, 2019 by News Staff

A new study into one of the world’s oldest types of fish, the coelacanth, illuminates for the first time the development of the brain and skull of this...

Wang et al predicted a set of high-confidence risk genes for schizophrenia; these genes account for a significantly enriched heritability; they are predominantly expressed in brain tissues, especially prenatally, and are enriched for targets of approved drugs, suggesting opportunities to reposition existing drugs for schizophrenia. Image credit: Gerd Altmann.

Researchers Identify 104 High-Risk Genes for Schizophrenia

Apr 23, 2019 by News Staff

A research team led by Vanderbilt University scientists has identified a set of high-confidence risk genes for schizophrenia. The team’s results support...

Large (left), medium (center), and small (right) fabellae (a small bone to the right of each image) in the right knees of three female subjects. Image credit: Berthaume et al, doi: 10.1111/joa.12994.

Fabella: Humans Were Losing Osteoarthritis-Linked Knee Bone, Now It’s Making Comeback

Apr 23, 2019 by News Staff

The fabella (Latin for ‘little bean’), a small bone in a tendon behind the knee, was once rare in humans. Now, a team of researchers from the Department...

A 3D model created from a dog skull discovered at Cuween Hill chambered cairn, Orkney, Scotland. Image credit: Historic Environment Scotland.

Scientists Reconstruct Face of Neolithic Dog

Apr 22, 2019 by News Staff

The face of a 4,000-year-old dog has been brought back to life by a team of researchers and forensic artists. A 3D model created from a dog skull discovered...

This Hubble image shows the ultra-diffuse galaxy NGC1052-DF4. Image credit: van Dokkum et al, doi: 10.3847/2041-8213/ab0d92.

Astronomers Find Second Galaxy with No Dark Matter

Apr 22, 2019 by News Staff

In 2018, a team of astronomers from the United States and Canada discovered that an ultra-diffuse galaxy called NGC 1052-DF2 (DF2 for short) contains virtually...

This is a superflare on an L-dwarf star. Image credit: Mark Garlick / University of Warwick.

Astronomers Detect Giant Stellar Flare on Ultracool Dwarf Star

Apr 22, 2019 by News Staff

A team of astronomers from the United Kingdom and Germany has spotted a superflare coming from an L-dwarf star approximately 250 light-years away that’s...

Site of application of vibrotactile device to the cymba concha of the ear. Left: major anatomical landmarks of the external ear (pinna) with approximate outline of the cymba concha; the cymba concha is a highly-conserved anatomical feature of the external ear that was identified by the device operator. Right: representative device placement of the vibrotactile device in contact with the cymba concha. Image credit: Addorisio et al, doi: 10.1186/s42234-019-0020-4.

Vibrotactile Device Improves Rheumatoid Arthritis Symptoms in Pilot Study

Apr 22, 2019 by News Staff

Application of a vibrotactile device to the cymba concha of the external ear improves disease symptoms in patients with rheumatoid arthritis, according...

This Hubble image shows a globular cluster called Messier 75. Image credit: NASA / ESA / Hubble / F. Ferraro et al.

Hubble Observes Globular Cluster Messier 75

Apr 22, 2019 by News Staff

NASA has released an absolutely beautiful photo taken by the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope of the globular cluster Messier 75. This Hubble image shows...

The Landscape (Paesaggio), inv. 8P, by Leonardo Da Vinci.

Leonardo da Vinci was Ambidextrous, Researchers Say

Apr 19, 2019 by News Staff

Leonardo da Vinci was left-handed, but he wrote and painted with both hands, according to new research from the Opificio delle Pietre Dure of Florence,...

This incredible image of the Southern Crab Nebula was taken to mark Hubble’s 29th anniversary in space. Image credit: NASA / ESA / STScI.

Hubble Celebrates Its 29th Anniversary with Stunning View of Southern Crab Nebula

Apr 19, 2019 by News Staff

In celebration of the 29th anniversary of the launch of the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope, astronomers captured this colorful look at the hourglass-shaped...

Simbakubwa kutokaafrika, a hyaenodont that was larger than a polar bear. Image credit: Mauricio Anton.

Carnivorous Mammal Larger than Polar Bear Once Roamed Kenya

Apr 19, 2019 by News Staff

A gigantic meat-eating mammal has been discovered — after its jaw, portions of its skull, and parts of its skeleton spent several decades sitting...

Güsten et al detected the first type of molecule that ever formed in the Universe -- HeH+. This discovery confirms a key part of our basic understanding of the early Universe and how it evolved over billions of years into the complex chemistry of today. Image credit: NASA’s Ames Research Center.

Helium Hydride Ion Spotted in Space for First Time

Apr 19, 2019 by News Staff

When the Universe was still very young, only a few kinds of atoms existed. Astrophysicists believe that around 100,000 years after the Big Bang, ionized...

These 210 images reflect Rosetta’s ever-changing view of Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko between July 2014 and September 2016. The sequence begins in the month leading up to Rosetta’s arrival on August 6, 2014, when the comet was barely a few pixels in the field of view. Suddenly, the curious shape was revealed and Rosetta raced to image its surface, coming within 10 km, to find a suitable place for Philae to land just three months later. Philae’s landing is featured with the ‘farewell’ images taken by both spacecraft of each other shortly after separation, and by Philae as it drew closer to the surface at its first touchdown point. An image taken at the final landing site is also shown. The subsequent images, taken by Rosetta, reflect the varying distance from the comet as well as the comet’s rise and fall in activity as they orbited the Sun. Before the comet reached its most active phase in August 2015, Rosetta was able to make some close flybys, including one in which the lighting geometry from the Sun was such that the spacecraft’s shadow could be seen on the surface. Then, owing to the increase of dust in the local environment, Rosetta had to maintain a safer distance and carry out scientific observations from afar, but this also gave some impressive views of the comet’s global activity, including jets and outburst events. Once the activity began to subside, Rosetta could come closer again and conduct science nearer to the nucleus, including capturing more high-resolution images of the surface, and looking out for changes after this active period. Eventually, as the comet returned to the colder outer Solar System, so the available solar power to operate Rosetta fell. The mission concluded with Rosetta making its own dramatic descent to the surface on September 30, 2016. A selection of the final images taken are reflected in the last images shown in this montage. Image credit: ESA / Rosetta / NavCam / MPS for OSIRIS Team / MPS / UPD / LAM / IAA / SSO / INTA / UPM / DASP / IDA / Philae / CIVA / ROLIS / DLR.

OSIRIS Team Releases Nearly 70,000 Images of Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko

Apr 18, 2019 by Enrico de Lazaro

Between 2014 and 2016, the OSIRIS (Optical, Spectroscopic, and Infrared Remote Imaging System) camera onboard ESA’s Rosetta spacecraft captured almost...