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The New Holland seahorse (Hippocampus whitei). Image credit: Sylke Rohrlach / CC BY-SA 2.0.

Marine Biologists Release Video of Male Seahorse Giving Birth

Dec 22, 2015 by Natali Anderson

Marine biologists from the University of British Columbia were lucky to witness a New Holland seahorse (Hippocampus whitei) giving birth in the waters...

Heatmap of gradient of expression of M1 and M3 spanning fetal development to late adulthood and in topographically distinct cortical regions: A1C - auditory cortex; AMY - amygdala; CBC - cerebellar cortex; DFC - dorsolateral prefrontal cortex; HIP - hippocampus; IPC - posterior inferior parietal cortex; ITC - inferior temporal cortex; M1C - primary motor cortex; MD - mediodorsal nucleus of thalamus; MFC - medial prefrontal cortex; OFC - orbital prefrontal cortex; S1C - primary somatosensory cortex; STC - superior temporal cortex; STR - striatum; V1C - primary visual cortex; VFC - ventrolateral prefrontal cortex. Image credit: Michael R. Johnson et al, doi: 10.1038/nn.4205.

Researchers Identify Intelligence Gene Networks

Dec 22, 2015 by News Staff

A group of scientists led by Imperial College London researcher Michael Johnson has identified two ‘gene networks’ associated with human cognitive...

NASA’s Cassini Spacecraft Makes Final Visit to Saturn’s Moon Enceladus

Dec 22, 2015 by News Staff

NASA’s Cassini robotic orbiter made a close flyby of Enceladus on December 19, the last targeted Enceladus encounter of the mission. This unprocessed...

Short-nosed sea snakes. Image credit: Grant Griffin / WA Parks and Wildlife Service.

Researchers Rediscover Two Rare Species of Sea Snakes

Dec 22, 2015 by Natali Anderson

A team of scientists from James Cook University and Curtin University, both in Australia, has rediscovered two Australian endemic sea snake species, leaf-scaled...

The two streams crossing the image are jets of hot gas, ejected from the poles of a protostar. If the jets collide with the surrounding gas and dust they can clear vast spaces, and create curved shock waves, seen as knotted clumps called Herbig-Haro objects. Image credit: NASA / ESA / Hubble / D. Padgett, GSFC / T. Megeath, University of Toledo / B. Reipurth, University of Hawaii.

Hubble Space Telescope Spots Cosmic Double-Bladed Lightsaber

Dec 21, 2015 by Enrico de Lazaro

A pair of jets of very hot gas protrude outwards in perfect symmetry in this striking image of the Herbig-Haro (HH) object HH 24, taken by the NASA/ESA...

The arowana (Scleropages sp.). Image credit: Marcel Burkhard / CC BY-SA 3.0.

Scientists Sequence Genome of Asian Arowana

Dec 21, 2015 by News Staff

An international team of researchers from Malaysia and Australia has successfully sequenced the genome of a famous ornamental fish species called the Asian...

This composite image shows the young Herbig-Haro object HH 34. Image credit: NASA / ESA / Hubble.

Hubble Captures Spectacular Herbig-Haro Object HH 34

Dec 21, 2015 by Enrico de Lazaro

HH 34, a curious object in the constellation of Orion, is captured in this amazing image from NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope. This composite image shows...

This panchromatic image of Pluto’s small moon Nix was taken on July 14, from a distance of 14,000 miles. The illuminated surface is about 12 x 29 miles (19 x 47 km). Image credit: NASA / Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory / Southwest Research Institute.

New Horizons Sends Back Best Images Yet of Pluto’s Small Moon Nix

Dec 20, 2015 by Enrico de Lazaro

NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft has beamed back the highest definition images of Nix yet. This panchromatic image of Pluto’s small moon Nix was taken...

Artist’s reconstruction of a Red Deer Cave man. Image credit: Peter Schouten.

14,000-Year-Old Bone Found in Red Deer Cave Points to Archaic Human Species

Dec 18, 2015 by News Staff

An archaic species of the genus Homo from China, thought to be long extinct, likely survived until as recently as 14,000 years ago, a thigh bone found...

Morelladon beltrani: New Sail-Backed Dinosaur Species Discovered in Spain

Dec 17, 2015 by Enrico de Lazaro

A new species of ornithopod dinosaur has been discovered in Spain dating back 125 million years to the Barremian stage of the Early Cretaceous epoch. Life...

A greater vasa parrot (Coracopsis vasa) in Madagascar. Image credit: Adventure Expedition Madagaskar / CC BY-SA 3.0.

Scientists Observe Tool Use in Vasa Parrots

Dec 17, 2015 by News Staff

A team of researchers from the United Kingdom has uncovered the first evidence of tool use by greater vasa parrots (Coracopsis vasa), unusual birs found...

This artist’s concept depicts a super-Earth. Image credit: NASA / Ames / JPL-Caltech.

Wolf 1061c: Potentially Habitable Super-Earth Spotted 14 Light-Years Away

Dec 17, 2015 by Natali Anderson

A team of astronomers has spotted three exoplanets orbiting around the same star – Wolf 1061 – one of which is in the habitable zone. This...

Artist’s impression of a transitional disc around a young star. Image credit: ALMA / ESO / NAOJ / NRAO / M. Kornmesser.

ALMA Spots Infant Exoplanets in Discs around Four Young Stars

Dec 16, 2015 by News Staff

The Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) has found strong evidence that massive planets have recently formed around four very young stars,...

The blue-banded bee Amegilla murrayensis. Image credit: Callin Switzer.

Australian Blue-Banded Bees Filmed Headbanging Flowers 350 Times a Second

Dec 16, 2015 by Natali Anderson

A team of entomologists has captured Australian blue-banded bees’ unique approach to pollination – headbanging flowers up to 350 times a second. The...

Blazars are the most common sources detected by NASA’s Fermi telescope. As matter falls toward a supermassive black hole at the galaxy’s center, some of it is accelerated outward at nearly the speed of light along jets pointed in opposite directions. When one of the jets happens to be aimed in the direction of Earth, as illustrated here, the galaxy appears especially bright and is classified as a blazar. Image credit: M. Weiss / CfA.

Astronomers Detect High-Energy Gamma Rays from Blazar 7.6 Billion Light-Years Away

Dec 16, 2015 by News Staff

Using NASA’s Fermi Space Telescope, the Very Energetic Radiation Imaging Telescope Array System (VERITAS) in Arizona, and other telescopes, astronomers...

The Teresensis’ bromeliad treefrog (Dendropsophus bromeliaceus), male. Image credit: Ferreira R.B. et al.

New Treefrog Species Discovered in Brazil: Dendropsophus bromeliaceus

Dec 15, 2015 by Sergio Prostak

A team of scientists from the United States, Argentina, and Brazil has described a new species of small treefrog from the rocky outcrops of the Brazilian...

Like a cosmic bull’s-eye, the two Saturnian moons line up almost perfectly for Cassini’s narrow-angle camera. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / Space Science Institute.

Tethys and Enceladus Line up Perfectly for NASA’s Cassini Robotic Orbiter

Dec 15, 2015 by Natali Anderson

NASA’s Cassini spacecraft has snapped an amazing image of two of Saturn’s moons: Tethys and Enceladus. The Saturn moons Tethys (far) and Enceladus...

The Australian little penguin (Eudyptula novaehollandia), Bruny Island, Tasmania, Australia. Image credit: J.J. Harrison / CC BY-SA 3.0.

New Zealand, Australian Little Penguins are Distinct Species, Scientists Say

Dec 15, 2015 by Sergio Prostak

Australian little penguins are a separate species from those living in New Zealand, a team of ornithologists led by University of Otago scientist Dr Stefanie...

This image shows an artist’s impression of the ten hot Jupiter exoplanets studied by the astronomers. The images are to scale with each other. HAT-P-12b, the smallest of them, is approximately the size of Jupiter, while WASP-17b, the largest planet in the sample, is almost twice the size. The planets are also depicted with a variety of different cloud properties. Image credit: NASA / ESA / Hubble.

Astronomers Solve Missing Water Mystery in Comparative Study of Hot Jupiters

Dec 15, 2015 by Natali Anderson

A survey of so-called hot-Jupiters – giant exoplanets that orbit very close to their host stars – conducted with NASA’s Spitzer and the NASA/ESA...