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Proxima Centauri. Image credit: Hubble / ESA / NASA.

Astronomers Find Evidence for 7-Year Stellar Cycle in Proxima Centauri

Oct 12, 2016 by Natali Anderson

The Sun’s nearest stellar neighbor, Proxima Centauri, has a regular cycle of starspots, according to a team of astronomers from the Harvard-Smithsonian...

Altered microRNAs in anxiety and metabolic disorders. Image credit: Chanan Meydan et al, doi: 10.1016/j.molmed.2016.07.001.

Scientists Find Molecular Link between Anxiety and Metabolic Disorders

Oct 12, 2016 by News Staff

Scientists in Israel have identified molecular elements that bridge anxiety and metabolism — a type of microRNA that influences shared biological...

This image from ESO’s VISTA telescope shows the central part of the Milky Way. While normally hidden behind obscuring dust, the infrared capabilities of the telescope allow astronomers to study stars close to the Galactic center. Within this field of view astronomers detected several RR Lyrae stars. Image credit: ESO / VVV Survey / D. Minniti et al.

VISTA Spots Ancient Stars near Milky Way Center

Oct 12, 2016 by News Staff

Astronomers using ESO’s VISTA infrared survey telescope have discovered a dozen ancient stars, of a type known as RR Lyrae, in the vicinity of the center...

According to Prof. Limoli and co-authors, deep space travel poses a real and unique threat to astronauts. Image credit: Das Wortgewand.

Deep Space Travel Poses Unique Threat to Astronauts, Researchers Say

Oct 11, 2016 by News Staff

Exposure to highly energetic charged particles can lead to a range of potential central nervous system complications that can occur during and persist...

Drink water according to thirst rather than a schedule, researchers recommend. Image credit: Photoshot.

New Study Challenges Popular Idea of Mandatory Water Intake

Oct 11, 2016 by News Staff

A study published this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences challenges the popular idea that we should drink 8 glasses of water...

A prairie kingsnake (Lampropeltis calligaster) in Kansas. Image credit: Don Becker / CC BY-SA 3.0.

Yellow-Bellied Kingsnake is Actually Three Separate Species

Oct 11, 2016 by Enrico de Lazaro

According to a new study published in the journal Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution, the yellow-bellied kingsnake (Lampropeltis calligaster), a snake...

UV photograph of a hand with vitiligo. Image credit: Chip Bobbert / CC BY-SA 4.0.

Scientists Discover 23 New ‘Risk Genes’ for Vitiligo

Oct 11, 2016 by Enrico de Lazaro

Twenty-three new genes involved in risk for autoimmune vitiligo have been identified by an international group of scientists led by the University of Colorado...

Two 2001 images from NASA’s Mars Global Surveyor orbiter show a dramatic change in the Red Planet’s appearance when haze raised by dust-storm activity in the south became globally distributed. At left, an image from late June 2001 shows clear conditions over much of Mars, with regional dust-storm activity occurring in the Hellas basin (bright oval feature) near the edge of the south polar cap. At right, a July 2001 image from the same perspective shows the planet almost completely enveloped. Dust extends to altitudes of more than 37 miles (60 km) during global-scale dust storms. Image credit: NASA / JPL / MSSS.

Global-Scale Dust Storm Could Hit Mars within Months, Warn NASA Researchers

Oct 10, 2016 by News Staff

A global-scale dust storm could envelop the Red Planet within the next few months, according to planetary researchers at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory...

This image shows the spiral galaxy NGC 278, which lies in the northern constellation Cassiopeia, about 41.7 million light-years away. Image credit: NASA / ESA / Hubble / S. Smartt, Queen's University Belfast.

Hubble Space Telescope Captures Image of NGC 278

Oct 10, 2016 by News Staff

This new NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image shows a spiral galaxy known as NGC 278. This image shows the spiral galaxy NGC 278, which lies in the northern...

The main idea behind the Breakthrough Starshot Initiative is to send light-propelled nanocrafts to the Alpha Centauri system within the next generation. Image credit: Breakthrough Initiatives.

New Light Sail Proposed to Ride a Laser Beam to the Stars

Oct 10, 2016 by James Romero

A laser beam-riding sail in the shape of a giant trapped ping pong ball could carry the first manmade object across interstellar space towards the recently-discovered...

Humans aren’t the only ones who can tell when someone’s beliefs don’t match reality. Image credit: Jochemy.

Study: Great Apes Understand False Beliefs

Oct 10, 2016 by News Staff

According to a new study published in the journal Science, three different species of great apes — chimpanzee, bonobo, and orangutan — are...

V Hydrae. Image credit: NASA / ESA / A. Field, STScI.

Astronomers Detect Giant Balls of Plasma Shooting from Binary Star System

Oct 7, 2016 by News Staff

Astronomers using the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope have detected blobs of plasma being ejected near a dying red giant star called V Hydrae. This image...

Pie charts show the proportion of chromosomes within different populations worldwide that carry a non-working copy of the FLG gene, a primary risk factor for eczema. Even in East Asia, where the rates are high, the scientists found no evidence that preserving this genetic mutation has an evolutionary benefit to humans. Image credit: Muthukrishnan Eaaswarkhanth et al.

Genetic Variant Associated with Eczema is Evolutionary Artifact, Researchers Say

Oct 7, 2016 by News Staff

Pie charts show the proportion of chromosomes within different populations worldwide that carry a non-working copy of the FLG gene, a primary risk factor...

This Hubble image shows the lenticular galaxy GJ1417+52. Image credit: NASA / ESA / Hubble.

Astronomers Find Wandering Black Hole in Galaxy 4.5 Billion Light-Years Away

Oct 7, 2016 by Enrico de Lazaro

A rogue black hole has been found in the outer regions of the lenticular galaxy SDSS J141711.07+522540.8 (GJ1417+52 for short). Evidence suggests this...

Camptopterohelea odora in amber from Gujarat State, western India. Scale bar - 0.2 mm. Image credit: Frauke Stebner / University of Bonn.

54-Million-Year-Old Biting Midge Found Preserved in Amber

Oct 6, 2016 by News Staff

A fossilized biting midge found in India preserved in amber dates back some 54 million years, says an international team of paleontologists. Camptopterohelea...

Schematic of a transistor with a molybdenum disulfide channel and 1-nm carbon nanotube gate. Image credit: Sujay Desai / Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.

Researchers Create World’s Smallest Transistor

Oct 6, 2016 by News Staff

A team of scientists headed by Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory researcher Prof. Ali Javey has used carbon nanotubes and a compound called molybdenum...

Philippine tarsiers (Tarsius syrichta). Image credit: JT Lim Majuro / CC BY-SA 3.0.

Scientists Sequence Tarsier Genome

Oct 6, 2016 by News Staff

An international team of researchers from the United States and Germany today reports having sequenced and annotated the genome of the Philippine tarsier....

An anatomical illustration from Sobotta's Human Anatomy, 1908, shows the structure of a human brain. Image credit: Dr Johannes Sobotta.

Researchers Identify New Gene Families Associated with Bigger Brains

Oct 6, 2016 by News Staff

A group of researchers in the United Kingdom has identified a set of gene families whose sizes are positively associated with an expanded neocortex —...

The buff-tailed bumblebees (Bombus terrestris). Image credit: Spacebirdy / CC-BY-SA-3.0.

Bumblebees Can Learn to Pull Strings for Reward, New Study Shows

Oct 5, 2016 by News Staff

String pulling is a popular problem-solving task for investigating cognitive abilities in apes and birds, but has never been tested in insects. Now, buff-tailed...