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Pluto’s Small Moon Nix is Covered in Relatively Pure Water Ice

This New Horizons image shows Pluto’s small moon Nix. Image credit: NASA / Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory / Southwest Research Institute.
Jun 23, 2016 by Enrico de Lazaro

The latest data from NASA’s New Horizons probe reveal a water-ice signature on the surface of Nix, one of Pluto’s five known moons. This New Horizons image shows Pluto’s small moon Nix. Image credit: NASA / Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory / Southwest Research Institute. “Pluto’s small satellites probably all formed out of the cloud of debris created by the impact of a small planet onto a young Pluto,” said Dr. Hal Weaver...

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Four of the projectile point fragments recovered from Kuumbi Cave: (A, C and G) impact fractures; (B and D) possible retrieval cut marks; (E) rounded tip; (F) post-depositional fracture revealing bone surface; (H) change in surface appearance. Magnification: A, C, G, and H at 65x; B at 85x; D at 100x; E at 200x. Image credit: Michelle C. Langley et al.

Eastern Africans Hunted with Poison-Tipped Arrows at least 13,000 Years Ago

Jun 23, 2016 by Enrico de Lazaro

A team of archaeologists studying bone artifacts discovered in a cave on the island of Unguja in the Zanzibar archipelago of Tanzania has found evidence...

Warthogs (Phacochoerus africanus) in South Africa. Image credit: Vince Smith / CC BY 2.0.

Warthogs, Wild Boars May Have Internal Magnetic Compass

Jun 22, 2016 by Natali Anderson

Wild boars (Sus scrofa) and warthogs (Phacochoerus africanus) have an internal magnetic compass that helps them orient themselves as they forage for food...

The inoculation of viruses into mosquito bite sites is an important and common stage of arbovirus infections. Dr. McKimmie and his colleagues show that inflammation at bite sites aids viral replication and dissemination in vivo, resulting in more severe infection. These findings define additional targets for post-exposure prophylactic intervention. Image credit: Marieke Pingen et al.

Inflammation from Mosquito Bites May Enhance Virus Replication, Dissemination

Jun 22, 2016 by News Staff

According to a mouse study published this week in the journal Immunity, the swelling and irritation that make mosquito bites so unpleasant may provide...

This X-ray image shows extended emission around the magnetar Swift J1834.9-0846. The glow arises from a cloud of fast-moving particles produced by the neutron star and corralled around it. Color indicates X-ray energies, with 2,000-3,000 electron volts (eV) in red, 3,000-4,500 eV in green, and 5,000 to 10,000 eV in blue. The image combines observations by XMM-Newton taken on March 16 and October 16, 2014. Image credit: ESA / XMM-Newton / G. Younes et al.

‘Wind Nebula’ Spotted around Magnetar

Jun 22, 2016 by News Staff

Using ESA’s X-ray space observatory XMM-Newton, astronomers have spotted for the first time an enigmatic cloud of high-energy particles called a wind...

Panther chameleon. Image credit: Pixel-mixer.

Chameleon’s Hunting Secret Revealed

Jun 22, 2016 by News Staff

The viscosity of the mucus secreted at the tip of a chameleon’s tongue is about 400 times higher than that of human saliva, according to a team of scientists...

This Pluto mosaic was made from New Horizons LORRI images taken on July 14, 2015, from a distance of 49,700 miles (80,000 km). This view is projected from a point 1,118 miles (1,800 km) above Pluto’s equator, looking northeast over the dark, cratered Cthulhu Regio toward the bright, smooth expanse of icy plains called Sputnik Planum. Pluto’s North Pole is off the image to the left. This mosaic was produced with panchromatic images from the New Horizons LORRI camera, with color overlaid from the Ralph color mapper onboard New Horizons. Image credit: S.A. Stern et al, doi: 10.1126/science.aad1815.

Pluto Likely Has a Hidden Liquid Ocean

Jun 21, 2016 by News Staff

When NASA’s New Horizons robotic spacecraft flew by Pluto in July 2015, it revealed clues that the enigmatic dwarf planet might have – or had at...

Strong ‘Electric Wind’ Can Strip Terrestrial Planets of Atmospheres, Oceans

Jun 21, 2016 by News Staff

Solar System’s planet Venus has an ‘electric wind’ strong enough to remove the components of water from its upper atmosphere. This action may have...

According to Zhong et al, water molecules control protein motion. Image credit: Rony Michaud.

Research Sheds New Light on How, Why Water is Essential to Life

Jun 21, 2016 by News Staff

Small water molecules control protein motion, a new study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences has found. According to Zhong...

Giant exoplanet K2-33b. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / R. Hurt.

Fully-Formed Giant Exoplanet Found Orbiting 5-10-Million-Year-Old Star

Jun 21, 2016 by Natali Anderson

An international team of astronomers has spotted a Neptune-sized exoplanet orbiting a very young star approximately 500 light-years from our own Solar...

Anolis landestoyi. Image credit: Miguel Landestoyi.

Anolis landestoyi: New Species of Chameleon-Like Lizard Found in Dominican Republic

Jun 20, 2016 by News Staff

Scientists from Canada and the United States have discovered a new species of Greater Antillean anole lizard in the Dominican Republic, on the Caribbean...

Drinking piping hot coffee, tea and yerba mate probably causes cancer of the esophagus, scientists say. Image credit: Wild0ne.

Very Hot Coffee, Tea, Mate May Increase Risk of Cancer of Esophagus

Jun 20, 2016 by News Staff

Beverages surpassing 149 degrees Fahrenheit (65 degrees Celsius) may increase the risk of tumors in the esophagus, which resides in the chest area below...

This image shows NGC 1854, a star cluster in the Large Magellanic Cloud (one of our closest cosmic neighbors). Image credit: NASA / ESA / Hubble.

New Hubble Image of Globular Cluster NGC 1854

Jun 20, 2016 by Natali Anderson

This NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image shows NGC 1854, a globular star cluster in the southern constellation of Dorado. This image shows NGC 1854,...

Astronomers Find Most Distant Oxygen in Universe

Jun 17, 2016 by Enrico de Lazaro

Astronomers using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) have found the most distant oxygen yet seen in the Universe, in a galaxy 13.1...

New study suggests an intriguing strategy to boost memory for what you’ve just learned: hit the gym 4 hrs later. Image credit: Skeeze.

Physical Exercise Four Hours after Learning Improves Long-Term Memory, Study Shows

Jun 17, 2016 by News Staff

A new study in the journal Current Biology shows that physical exercise after learning improves memory and memory traces, but only if the exercise is done...

This artist’s impression shows a hot-Jupiter orbiting close to one of the stars in the star cluster Messier 67. Astronomers have found far more planets like this in the cluster than expected. This surprise result was obtained using a number of telescopes and instruments, among them the HARPS spectrograph at ESO’s La Silla Observatory in Chile. Image credit: L. Calcada / ESO.

Unexpected Excess of Hot-Jupiter Exoplanets in Messier 67

Jun 17, 2016 by News Staff

Astronomers have found that there are far more so-called hot-Jupiter planets – gas giants that orbit very close to their parent stars – than...

Asteroid 2016 HO3 has an orbit around the Sun that keeps it as a constant companion of our planet. This is an artist’s impression of an asteroid. Image credit: Mark A. Garlick, Space-art.co.uk / University of Warwick / University of Cambridge.

Asteroid 2016 HO3 is Earth’s Quasi-Satellite, NASA Astronomers Say

Jun 16, 2016 by Natali Anderson

According to astronomers at NASA’s Center for Near-Earth Object (NEO) Studies, a near-Earth asteroid designated 2016 HO3 is currently following a stable...

ExoMars acquired its first image of Mars on June 13. The line-of-sight distance to the planet was 25.5 million miles (41 million km). The Tharsis region of Mars, home to the planet’s largest volcanoes, faces the spacecraft in this view. Image credit: ESA / Roscosmos / ExoMars / CaSSIS / UniBE.

ExoMars Orbiter Beams Back Its First Image of Mars

Jun 16, 2016 by Natali Anderson

ESA’s ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter (TGO) has snapped its first photo of the Red Planet. ExoMars acquired its first image of Mars on June 13. The line-of-sight...

Researchers Discover New Type of Meteorite: Ost 65

Jun 16, 2016 by Enrico de Lazaro

A ‘fossil’ meteorite discovered in a limestone quarry in Sweden is unique and distinct from other known meteorites, according to a team of researchers...

Physicists Identify Second Gravitational-Wave Event

Jun 16, 2016 by Sergio Prostak

An international team of scientists has identified a second gravitational wave event in the data from the twin detectors of the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave...

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