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Murray et al show that crested pigeons (Ochyphaps lophotes) signal alarm with specially modified wing feathers. Image credit: Patrick Kavanagh / CC BY 2.0.

Crested Pigeons Use Specially Modified Wing Feathers to Signal Danger, Ornithologists Find

Nov 26, 2017 by News Staff

A team of researchers from the Australian National University has solved the mystery of how crested pigeons (Ochyphaps lophotes) create an alarm without...

This MUSE image shows a huge cloud of gas around the distant quasar 4C 10.29. Image credit: Arrigoni Battaia et al / ESO.

Astronomers Spot Giant Nebula around Distant Quasar

Nov 24, 2017 by News Staff

Astronomers using ESO’s Very Large Telescope in Chile have discovered an enormous cloud of gas around an extremely distant quasar called 4C 10.29. This...

Sousa et al show that the human brain is not only a larger version of the ancestral primate brain but also one filled with distinct and surprising differences. Image credit: William H. Calvin / CC BY-SA 4.0.

Research Highlights Key Differences between Human and Non-Human Primate Brains

Nov 24, 2017 by News Staff

A detailed comparative analysis of adult human, chimpanzee, and macaque brains shows that all regions of the human brain have molecular signatures very...

Titan’s south polar vortex stands out against the orange and blue haze layers that are characteristic of the hazy moon’s atmosphere. This view looks towards the trailing hemisphere of Titan (3,200 miles, or 5,150 km across). North on Titan is up and rotated 17 degrees to the left. Images taken using red, green and blue spectral filters were combined to create this natural-color view. The image was taken with the Cassini spacecraft narrow-angle camera on July 30, 2013. The view was acquired at a distance of approximately 895,000 miles (1.441 million km) from Titan. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / Space Science Institute.

New Study Explains Unexpected Cooling of Titan’s Polar Atmosphere

Nov 24, 2017 by News Staff

A study published in the journal Nature Communications has shown that a recently reported unexpected polar vortex behavior on Saturn’s hazy moon Titan...

Audio signals can be stored in a magnetic tape medium; similarly the microscopic data recorder stores biological signals into a CRISPR tape in bacteria. Image credit: Columbia University Medical Center.

Synthetic Biologists Create Bacterial ‘Tape Recorder’

Nov 24, 2017 by News Staff

A team of synthetic biologists from Columbia University has successfully converted an immune system of the gut bacterium Escherichia coli into a microscopic...

This image from NASA’s Cassini spacecraft shows Saturn and its rings. Six of Saturn’s moons make a faint appearance in this image: the ice-covered moon Enceladus can be seen at the 1 o’clock position; directly below Enceladus, just outside the F ring (the thin, farthest ring from the planet seen in this image) lies the small moon Epimetheus; following the F ring clock-wise from Epimetheus, the next moon seen is Janus; at about the 4:30 position and outward from the F ring is Mimas; inward of Mimas and still at about the 4:30 position is the F-ring-disrupting moon, Pandora; moving around to the 10 o’clock position, just inside of the F ring, is the moon Prometheus. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / Space Science Institute.

NASA’s Cassini Team Releases Stunning Natural-Color Image of Saturn

Nov 23, 2017 by News Staff

After more than 13 years at Saturn, NASA’s Cassini spacecraft bid farewell to the Saturnian system by firing the shutters of its wide-angle camera and...

This image shows a visual representation of one of the highest-energy neutrino detections superimposed on a view of the IceCube Observatory at the South Pole. Image credit: IceCube Collaboration.

Earth Can Absorb High-Energy Neutrinos, Physicists Find

Nov 23, 2017 by News Staff

Neutrinos are subatomic particles that are famous for passing through anything and everything. Now, physicists have demonstrated that our planet stops...

According to the scientists, coffee consumption is generally safe, but doctors should not recommend drinking coffee to prevent disease -- and people should not start drinking coffee for health reasons. Image credit: Myriams Fotos.

Coffee Consumption ‘More Likely to Benefit Health Than To Harm It’

Nov 23, 2017 by News Staff

Drinking three to four cups of coffee a day is associated with a lower risk of mortality and getting heart disease compared with drinking no coffee, according...

Enoto et al describe how gamma rays from lightning react with the air to produce radioisotopes and even positrons. Image credit: Teruaki Enoto, Kyoto University.

Lightning Strikes Produce Antimatter Particles in Earth’s Atmosphere

Nov 23, 2017 by News Staff

Scientists from Japan and Singapore report in the November 23 issue of the journal Nature that they observed positron (antimatter counterpart of the electron)...

Mishra et al investigated influence of bedroom air quality on different sleep parameters. Image credit: Alfons Schueler.

Study: Opening Windows and Doors Improves Sleep Quality

Nov 23, 2017 by Sergio Prostak

Opening windows and doors before going to bed can reduce carbon dioxide levels in bedrooms and improve sleep quality, according to new research from the...

Rafflesia kemumu. Image credit: Susatya et al / Ministry of Environment and Forestry Republic of Indonesia.

New Species of Rafflesia Discovered in Indonesia

Nov 22, 2017 by Enrico de Lazaro

An international team of scientists from the United States and Indonesia has described a new species of flowering plant of the genus Rafflesia from the...

A blue whale (Balaenoptera musculus) spouts near a research boat. Image credit: Flip Nickin, Minden Pictures / Oregon State University / CC BY-SA 2.0.

Scientists Find Evidence of ‘Handedness’ in Blue Whales

Nov 22, 2017 by News Staff

A group of marine biologists that used motion-sensing tags to track the movements of blue whales (Balaenoptera musculus) off the California coast discovered...

Dermal denticles on the tail of the little skate (Leucoraja erinacea). Image credit: Andrew Gillis, University of Cambridge.

Vertebrate Teeth Evolved from Ancient Fish Scales, Researchers Say

Nov 22, 2017 by News Staff

New findings from researchers at the University of Cambridge, UK, support the theory that teeth in the animal kingdom evolved from the jagged scales of...

Hypervelocity space dust is a unique entity in planetary systems like our Solar System, which is able to go past and enter the atmosphere of planets, collect samples of those planets and deposit samples of other planets. Image credit: Jonny Lindner.

Space Dust May Transport Biological Particles between Distant Planets, New Study Suggests

Nov 22, 2017 by News Staff

Streams of space dust that continually bombard Earth’s atmosphere could deliver microbial life and life essential molecules from distant planets, or...

Happy faces are attractive to dogs. Image credit: Sanni Somppi.

Study: Dogs Prefer Happy Human Faces — Thanks to Hormone Oxytocin

Nov 22, 2017 by News Staff

Oxytocin, a powerful hormone produced by all mammals, including canines, is a key factor in the interaction between dogs and humans, according to a new...

According to Zhang et al, Pluto’s atmosphere is unique among Solar System planetary atmospheres, as its equilibrium temperature is controlled primarily by solid-phase haze particles instead of gas molecules. This artist’s impression shows a view of the moon Charon through Pluto’s atmospheric haze layers above the mountain landscape of bedrock water ice covered partially with deposition of dark, reddish haze particles. Image credit: X. Liu.

Haze Particles Cool Pluto’s Atmosphere, New Research Finds

Nov 21, 2017 by News Staff

It turns out solid-phase haze particles help cool the atmosphere of the dwarf planet Pluto. That’s according to new research by planetary scientists...

Chernobyl disaster aftermath: reactor 4 (center), turbine building (lower left) and reactor 3 (center right).

New Study Rewrites First Seconds of Chernobyl Accident

Nov 21, 2017 by News Staff

According to an analysis published in the journal Nuclear Technology, the first of the two major explosions reported by eyewitnesses of the Chernobyl disaster...

Our Milky Way Galaxy is organized into spiral arms of giant stars that illuminate interstellar gas and dust. The Sun is in a finger called the Orion Spur. Overlaid is a graphic of galactic longitude in relation to our Sun. Image credit: NASA / Adler / University of Chicago / Wesleyan / JPL-Caltech.

Astronomers Find Very Old Stars in Solar Neighborhood

Nov 21, 2017 by News Staff

A research team led by Georgia State University astronomers has discovered some of the oldest stars in our solar neighborhood by determining their locations...

A field of bread wheat (Triticum aestivum) in Ukraine. Image credit: Oleksii Alieksieiev.

Researchers Piece Together Bread Wheat Genome

Nov 21, 2017 by News Staff

An international team of scientists from the Johns Hopkins University, Pacific Biosciences, and Earlham Institute has produced the first near-complete...