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This is an illustrated rendition of two male glyptodonts (Doedicurus clavicaudatus); massive, club-shaped tails were probably used more for intraspecific combat than defense against predators. Image credit: Peter Schouten.

Researchers Sequence Mitochondrial Genome of Glyptodont

Feb 23, 2016 by Natali Anderson

An international group of scientists has successfully sequenced the whole mitochondrial genome of the ancient glyptodont – a heavily armored herbivorous...

The Iberian grass snake (Natrix astreptophora). Image credit: Wolfgang Böhme.

Iberian Grass Snake: Cryptic New Species of Snake Identified

Feb 23, 2016 by Enrico de Lazaro

An international team of scientists from Czech Republic, France and Germany has identified a cryptic new species of grass snake living in the North African...

Top image: filtered signals recorded in the two brain regions identify the almost perfect synchronization between the two regions during the expression of fear memories. Bottom image: spectral decomposition of the brain signals allows researchers to identify the frequency and power of neuronal rhythmic oscillations during fear behavior. Image credit: Nikolaos Karalis et al.

Neuroscientists: Specific Brain Waves Synchronize Brain Regions During Fear Behavior

Feb 23, 2016 by News Staff

A new study led by Nikolaos Karalis of the Ludwig-Maximilians Universität München and Dr. Cyril Herry of the Neurocentre Magendie has shed light on what...

This Hubble image shows WR 31a, a type of star known as a Wolf–Rayet star. Image credit: NASA / ESA / Hubble / Judy Schmidt, www.geckzilla.com.

Hubble Space Telescope Snaps Incredible Image of Wolf-Rayet Star

Feb 22, 2016 by Sergio Prostak

WR 31a, a rare example of a massive star, is the subject of this image from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope. This Hubble image shows WR 31a, a type...

The sea butterfly (Limacina helicina). Image credit: Russ Hopcroft, Institute of Marine Science, University of Alaska Fairbanks / NOAA.

Sea Butterflies Swim Like Flying Insects, Scientists Say

Feb 20, 2016 by News Staff

Zooplanktonic sea butterflies (Limacina helicina) ‘fly’ underwater using the same technique as tiny flying insects, beating their wings in a figure-of-eight...

Illustration of the super-Jupiter 2M1207b. Image credit: NASA / ESA / G. Bacon, STScI / Y. Zhou, University of Arizona.

Astronomers Measure Rotation of Cloudy Super-Jupiter

Feb 19, 2016 by Natali Anderson

Using the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope, scientists have discovered that a giant extrasolar planet called 2MASSWJ 1207334-393254b has patchy clouds and...

A close-up of the canyons on Charon, taken by New Horizons’ LORRI instrument during the spacecraft’s close approach to the Pluto system on July 14, 2015. When New Horizons took this image, a distance of 48,900 miles (78,700 km) separated the spacecraft and Charon. The image measures 240 miles (386 km) long and 110 miles (175 km) wide. Multiple views taken by the spacecraft as it passed by the Pluto’s largest moon allow stereo measurements of topography, shown in the color-coded version of the image. The scale bar indicates relative elevation. Image credit: NASA / Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory / Southwest Research Institute.

Charon May Have Had Subsurface Water Ocean

Feb 19, 2016 by News Staff

Images taken by the Long-Range Reconnaissance Imager (LORRI) instrument on board NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft suggest that Charon once had an underground...

Remains of a Natufian building at NEG II: the wall of this structure is 90 cm high and is the best preserved wall excavated thus far; it is composed of 5 courses of limestone and basalt stones; the wall tilts slightly away from the structure to the northwest and two large stones mark its base at the top of the Natufian occupation level; only the western side of the structure survived, yet the contour of the curve suggests a diameter of at least 5 m. Image credit: Grosman L. et al.

12,000-Year-Old Natufian Village Unearthed in Jordan Valley

Feb 18, 2016 by Enrico de Lazaro

Archaeologists excavating the Nahal Ein Gev II site in the Jordan Valley, Israel, have discovered the remains of an ancient settlement of the Natufian...

Electron microscopy of the bat cell line identifies viral particles that appear to be BGHV8: black and red boxes highlight enlarged regions directly below the image above; both areas identify budding and fully budded herpesvirus virions. Image credit: Reed S. Shabman et al.

Scientists Discover Novel Herpes Virus in Bats

Feb 18, 2016 by News Staff

A team of scientists, led by Dr. Reed Shabman of the J. Craig Venter Institute and Prof. Christopher Basler of the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai,...

Dr. Lupo next to the remains of a Chalcolithic period building. Image credit: Assaf Peretz / Israel Antiquities Authority.

Archaeologists Uncover Chalcolithic Period Settlement in Jerusalem

Feb 18, 2016 by Enrico de Lazaro

Archaeologists working in Israel have uncovered the remains of a settlement from the Chalcolithic period (fifth millennium BC). Dr. Lupo next to the remains...

This image shows NGC 4889 (largest object) in front of hundreds of background galaxies. Image credit: NASA / ESA.

NGC 4889: Hubble Focuses on Distant Elliptical Galaxy

Feb 17, 2016 by News Staff

This incredible image, taken with the Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS) on board the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope, shows the giant elliptical galaxy...

Denisovans were probably dark-skinned, unlike the pale Neandertals. The picture shows a Neanderthal man. Image credit: Mauro Cutrona.

Scientists: Neanderthals Mated with Humans 100,000 Years Ago

Feb 17, 2016 by News Staff

A multinational group of researchers has found strong genetic evidence of an interbreeding event between Neanderthals and anatomically modern Homo sapiens...

Gastornis lived on Ellesmere Island in the High Arctic about 53 million years ago. Image credit: Marlin Peterson.

Giant, Flightless Birds Lived in Arctic 53 Million Years Ago

Feb 17, 2016 by News Staff

A new paper published in the journal Scientific Reports describes the first and only fossil evidence from the High Arctic of the giant, flightless bird...

An artist’s impression of the exoplanet 55 Cancri e. According to Tsiaras and co-authors, the atmosphere of this planet consists mainly of hydrogen and helium. Image credit: NASA / ESA / Hubble Space Telescope.

Astronomers Analyze Atmosphere of Super-Earth Exoplanet 55 Cancri e

Feb 17, 2016 by Enrico de Lazaro

Using the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope, European astronomers have been able to examine the atmosphere of the extrasolar planet 55 Cancri e in unprecedented...

An artist impression of HD 142527 based on ALMA data. According to astronomers, HD 142527 consists of a main star a little more than twice the mass of our Sun and a smaller companion star only about a third the mass of our Sun; they are separated by approximately one billion miles. The rendition shows a distinctive arc of dust (red) embedded in the protoplanetary disk. The red arc is free of gas, suggesting the carbon monoxide has frozen out, forming a layer of frost on the dust grains in that region. Astronomers speculate this frost provides a boost to planet formation. The two dots in the center represent the two stars in the system. Image credit: B. Saxton / NRAO / AUI / NSF.

ALMA Images Shed More Light on Planet Formation around Binary Stars

Feb 17, 2016 by Natali Anderson

Using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) radio telescope in Chile, an astronomer from the United States has taken a detailed look...

Geologic map of Pluto’s famous heart-shaped region, Sputnik Planum. Image credit: NASA / Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory / Southwest Research Institute.

NASA Scientists Create Geologic Map of Pluto’s Big Heart

Feb 16, 2016 by News Staff

NASA scientists have produced this geologic map of one of Pluto’s most dominant features from images taken by New Horizons’ Long Range Reconnaissance...

This false-color image shows the mineral ichnusaite. Image credit: American Mineralogist / Paulo Biagioni et al.

Researchers Shed New Light on Earth’s Mineral Kingdom

Feb 16, 2016 by News Staff

A team of researchers has inventoried and categorized all of Earth’s rare mineral species described to date. This false-color image shows the mineral...

Strychnos electri, encased in amber, was found by Prof. George Poinar in a Dominican amber mine. Image credit: George Poinar / Oregon State University.

Prehistoric Asterid Flowers Found Perfectly Preserved in Dominican Amber

Feb 16, 2016 by Enrico de Lazaro

A team of paleontologists has identified two ancient flowers trapped in the mid-Tertiary Dominican amber as belonging to a previously unknown species of...

An illustration of the ice XVII’s molecular configuration. Image credit: Yingying Huang / Chongqin Zhu.

Ice XVII: Chemists Predict Existence of New Form of Ice

Feb 15, 2016 by News Staff

An international team of scientists, led by Xiao Cheng Zeng from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and Jijun Zhao from the Dalian University of Technology,...