Page 499 | Sci.News: Breaking Science News

Could Mysterious Fast Radio Bursts Be Powering Extragalactic Light Sails?

Mar 12, 2017 by News Staff

Fast radio bursts (FRBs) — powerful radio flashes lasting just milliseconds, with mysterious origins that continue to be a matter of debate —...

Ancient crocodile-like animals first saw easy meals on land and then evolved limbs that enabled them to get there. Image credit: Zina Deretsky, National Science Foundation.

New Hypothesis for Origin of Terrestrial Vertebrates Proposed

Mar 10, 2017 by News Staff

It was the power of the eyes — not the limbs — that first led our ancient aquatic ancestors to make the leap from water to land, according...

Cerealia Facula, a bright dome in the center of Occator Crater on the dwarf planet Ceres, is shown in enhanced color in this view from NASA’s Dawn spacecraft. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / UCLA / MPS / DLR / IDA / PSI / LPI.

Researchers Determine Age of Ceres’ Brightest Spot

Mar 10, 2017 by News Staff

Cerealia Facula, a dome-like feature located in the center of Ceres’ Occator crater, is only 4 million years old — approximately 30 million years...

Pan: Saturn’s Flying Saucer-Shaped Moon Up Close

Mar 10, 2017 by Enrico de Lazaro

NASA’s Cassini spacecraft captured these stunning images of Pan, the second-innermost moon of Saturn, during a close flyby on March 7, 2017. These images...

Lactobacillus reuteri bacteria (blue). Image credit: Alistair Walsham & Stephanie Schüller, doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2016.00244.

Lactobacilli Can Reverse Depression Symptoms, Study Finds

Mar 10, 2017 by News Staff

Lactobacilli, a group of probiotic bacteria that ferment milk into yogurt and aid in the digestive process in the body, can reverse depression-like behavior...

El Sidron Neanderthals taste wild mushrooms, pine nuts and forest moss. Image credit: Abel Grau, CSIC Communication.

Neanderthals Used Plant-Based Painkillers, Ate Rhinoceros Meat, Mushrooms, Nuts, and Moss

Mar 9, 2017 by News Staff

An analysis of ancient DNA entrapped in Neanderthal dental calculus (calcified dental plaque) has revealed the complexity of Neanderthal behavior, including...

The magnetism of the holmium atom can be changed or read by flowing current through the STM tip. Image credit: Fabian D. Natterer et al.

Researchers Make Single-Atom Memory from Holmium

Mar 9, 2017 by News Staff

According to a research team led by scientists from IBM Almaden Research Center in San Jose, California, and the Institute of Basic Science in Seoul, South...

This artist’s impression shows what the galaxy A2744_YD4 might look like. Image credit: ESO / M. Kornmesser.

ALMA Detects Vast Amounts of Interstellar Dust, Oxygen in Very Young, Distant Galaxy

Mar 9, 2017 by News Staff

New observations using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) have demonstrated that A2744_YD4 — the youngest and most remote galaxy...

Indiana University Professor Hui-Chen Lu and co-authors have identified 24 compounds that increase the brain’s production of the enzyme NMNAT2, which helps prevent the formation of tau tangles associated with neurodegenerative disorders. Image credit: National Institute on Aging / National Institutes of Health.

Study: Caffeine, 23 Other Compounds Boost Dementia-Fighting Enzyme

Mar 9, 2017 by News Staff

A team of scientists at Indiana University, Bloomington, has identified 24 compounds — including caffeine, retinoic acid, and rolipram — with...

Artist’s concept of a magneto-optical trap and atom chip to be used by NASA’s Cold Atom Laboratory aboard the International Space Station. CAL will provide an opportunity to study ultra-cold quantum gases in the microgravity environment of the space station -- a frontier in scientific research that is expected to reveal interesting and novel quantum phenomena. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech.

NASA’s Cold Atom Laboratory to Create ‘Coolest Spot in Universe’

Mar 8, 2017 by News Staff

This summer, a suite of instruments called the Cold Atom Laboratory (CAL) will fly to the International Space Station (ISS), where it will utilize the...

Ichthyosaurs. Image credit: Julio Lacerda.

Two Ichthyosaur Species Found to Be the Same

Mar 8, 2017 by News Staff

New research by Brockport College Professor Judy Massare and University of Manchester paleontologist Dean Lomax confirms that two species of ichthyosaurs...

Castle-Miller et al have discovered how animals link the change in seasons to their fertility.

Researchers Discover How Animals Measure Annual Time to Reproduce

Mar 8, 2017 by News Staff

A new study published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences reveals the link between breeding season and the hormone melatonin,...

True’s beaked whales (Mesoplodon mirus). Image credit: Roland Edler, Duisburg Zoo.

Extremely Rare True’s Beaked Whale Caught on Video

Mar 7, 2017 by News Staff

The True’s beaked whale (Mesoplodon mirus) is a poorly known member of the family Ziphiidae, second largest family of cetaceans (which includes whales,...

The 850-year-old carved wooden boat from Ørland, Norway. Image credit: Åge Hojem, NTNU University Museum.

Archaeologists Find Viking Age Toy Boat in Norway

Mar 7, 2017 by News Staff

Archaeologists from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology’s (NTNU) University Museum have uncovered a toy dating back as far as 1153 CE...

Avicularia merianae, female. Image credit: H.-W. Auer.

Three New Tarantula Species Discovered in South America

Mar 7, 2017 by News Staff

Brazilian taxonomists have discovered and described three new species of the ‘bird-eating’ tarantula genus Avicularia from Ecuador, Peru and Brazil. Avicularia...

NASA’s Cassini spacecraft returned a breathtaking image of Saturn’s icy moon Enceladus. This view looks toward the anti-Saturn hemisphere of Enceladus. North on Enceladus is up and rotated 4 degrees to the right. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / Space Science Institute.

Cassini Captures Another Stunning View of Saturn’s Frozen Moon Enceladus

Mar 7, 2017 by News Staff

NASA’s Cassini spacecraft currently orbiting Saturn has captured a breathtaking new image of Enceladus, the sixth-largest of the gas giant’s moons. NASA’s...

A Neptune-mass exoplanet. Image credit: NASA / Goddard / Francis Reddy.

Kepler’s K2 Mission Helps Discover Five New Exoplanets

Mar 6, 2017 by Enrico de Lazaro

Using NASA’s Kepler spacecraft on its K2 mission, astronomers have discovered five new planets around other stars, including two extraordinary companions...

Virtual reconstructions of the Xuchang 1 and 2 skulls, superimposed on the archeological site where they were discovered. Image credit: Xiujie Wu.

Archaic Human Skulls from China Reveal Complex Mix of Trends in Time and Space

Mar 6, 2017 by News Staff

Two partial archaic human skulls unearthed in central China provide a new window into the biology and populations patterns of the immediate predecessors...

According to Yovanovich et al, frogs can see color in extreme darkness, down to the absolute threshold of the visual system. Image credit: Sonja Pauen / CC BY 2.0.

Frogs Have Unique Ability to See Color in Extreme Darkness, Study Shows

Mar 6, 2017 by News Staff

Frogs have the ability to see color even when it is so dark that humans are not able to see anything at all, according to a new study published in the...